Nicole the Demigod
by monkeypicklez
Summary: This is a short story I wrote about a girl named Nicole who finds out that she's a demigod. Some of the characters from the book might be a little out of character, but I tried my best to stick to their personalities!
1. Chapter 1

_**Hey! This is a story I wrote about a girl named Nicole who finds out she's a demigod. If you find a problem with it, please tell me! I don't own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, or iPod, or Miley Cyrus's G.N.O., or Denny's, or anything else I might have mentioned in the story!**_

For as long as I can remember, I'd been an orphan, moved from foster parents to foster parents, never really staying in one place for very long. Now, looking back, I realize it probably had something to do with all the mysterious and most of the time, troublesome, events that seemed to follow me everywhere I went. Although, you can't blame me for not seeing that earlier, I was only about seven at the time.

I had grown up to be one of those kids who had learned to be self-sufficient and not really depend on anyone else. That probably was due to the fact that I never had anyone to depend on. No matter what "nice couple" decided they wanted me as their daughter, I didn't exactly make a good impression. Maybe it was the dyslexia, or maybe the ADHD, or maybe the fact that I always seemed to bring trouble with me wherever I went.

The people in charge at the orphanage where I stayed until I was seven, and old enough to be in foster care, said that my mother died giving birth to me and my father left her after he found out that she was pregnant. I'm not sure if I believe that, but it was the closest thing to an explanation I was ever going to get. Or so I thought.

I was living with my foster parents 17 (yeah, I kept track) listening to the iPod I had gotten from foster parents 5 (it was sort of a bribe to stay away from them and shut up, but I got to keep it anyway), and watching the sunrise when I looked at the calendar. I was one day away from being 13! I was really excited about my birthday, even though no one else cared.

I had this really good feeling about my birthday, I can't explain it; maybe it was just cool to know that I was almost a teenager. Although Sue and Harry would just say that I was now a moody teen, and not worthy of their attention anymore, I was beyond the point where I cared. They could start cursing at me at the top of their lungs and I would just smile and nod; which I have learned from experience, they don't like.

The only thing they could do to really upset me was take away my iPod, but since they didn't know I had one, I was safe there. I always listen to music when I'm upset; it calmed me down and helped me concentrate. I know it seems weird, but I never said my life was normal!

"Nicole! Get your sorry butt downstairs now!" There was my wake-up call from Sue. I honestly don't know why they even bother to try; I'm always awake when the sun rises. I was told either that I was just an early riser, or I was a freak; depending on whom you ask.

"Okay! I'll be right there." I yelled back, knowing that if I wasn't there in under five minutes I would have to go to school without breakfast, but that didn't really bother me; the less time with Sue and Harry, the better.

"I said NOW! You sorry excuse for a human being!" Yeah, this was how my "loving parents" often referred to me. I was used to it by now though, so it didn't bother me anymore.

"Okay, OKAY! I'm coming!" I said, then couldn't help muttering under my breath "you sorry excuse for a guardian." But I did go down to the kitchen and get my burnt toast before grabbing my school bag and heading for the door.

"Bye! I'm leaving for school now, so don't be too excited, thinking I ran away!" I yelled back over my shoulder. Then, I ducked as she threw her fork at my head and broke into a full-on sprint to get out of the house. I ran down the street to the bus stop, laughing the whole way there.

I sat down on the side of the road, away from everyone else just like always. I threw the burnt breakfast into the bushes behind me, too busy thinking about what I was going to do before going back to the jail that Sue and Harry call a house. I hated it there, so I would normally just go for a walk in the park after school. A really long walk if school was being particularly annoying sometimes.

That's when the bus pulled up and stopped, letting everyone pile up. I was always the last one on, and the last one off, not liking to be in the middle of the huge group of people. I was just about to board the bus, when I heard a strange noise behind me. I turned around and saw the shrubbery rustling.

After staring at the plants for a few seconds, the driver started to yell at me to get on the bus, so I let it go and boarded the bus to my doom, I mean, school!

I sat in the front of the bus, and when we finally pulled to a stop at my middle school, I let everyone else flood into the building before me. As I was getting off, I saw the bus driver throw me a dirty look; though why, I have no idea. It's not like I trashed the bus or anything, I always leave that to the last day of school!

So I walked into the three-story building all alone, and headed to my first period class. When I got to history, I realized that we were going to be reading about ancient Greece. I love hearing all the old stories about mythology, because, personally I think it's cool. So we read through the whole story of the titans and how the gods overtook them, and I could barely understand anything that was written there.

Next was Language Arts, my least favorite class ever. It was also the class that I was failing epically in; even more than all the others. I can never read the required books, and I always took the longest on tests; which, coincidentally, I also always got an F on, so I just zoned out and didn't hear anything my teacher said, until the bell rang forty minutes later.

Then, it was time for band, my absolute favorite class that I have ever been in. I don't know how, but my dyslexia doesn't transfer into music. I can always concentrate on my saxophone skills in band, even though no one else seems to, because our teacher yells at us a lot. Band is my favorite three quarters of an hour, and it makes my day all week long.

Unfortunately, every good thing has to end, so at 11:50 I had to leave the band room, and my awesome tenor sax, behind while I headed off to lunch. I waited in line to get my hamburger, and then went to go sit at my table. I ate a solitary lunch, then stood up and went to dump all my trash off the lunch tray.

Now it was math, which is actually not that bad for me. My dyslexia wasn't that bad when it came to numbers, so I only got C's in algebra. I was half way through my math worksheet when the class ended and I left to go to science, which I had never really excelled at. So, obviously, I zoned out now too.

That's when I went to my last class of the day, P.E. I had to climb the rope, and I was always only slightly good at that. I made it about half way up, when I knew that I couldn't make it to the top. I dropped to the ground and landed somewhat gracefully on my feet. At least I didn't fall this time, I was glad about that.

Finally school was over, and I went to the bus ramp. I climbed on my bus last and got a seat in the front, just like always. Although today, I noticed my bus driver staring at me like I was some sort of child delinquent; which, I guess technically, I might be.

It was my stop, so I stood up and waited for everyone else to pass by me before I got off. Once I was on the sidewalk, the bus driver was still watching me as she drove off. I really didn't have anything to do because I wasn't feeling like doing my homework, so I walked around without any real purpose.

I had just passed the same spot that I had heard the weird rustling noises that morning, when the bushes next to me started to shake. I knew I wasn't imagining it this time, so I did the completely rational thing to do; I stopped dead and stared at the shrub.

The sounds got louder and I still was just watching it. I hadn't moved at all and was standing about three feet away, when whatever was behind the bush jumped out at me. That's when I started to move again, and ran as fast as I could in the opposite direction.

Unluckily for me, I couldn't run faster than the thing that was hiding behind the plants. I tried my best to get away, but the creature caught up to me and pinned me to the ground. I managed to scream at the top of my lungs, and I don't know or cared who heard me.

Now, I can scream pretty loud and extremely high-pitched when I want to, but I had no idea that I could be so annoying until that thing howled in displeasure. That's when I knew that this was not going well at all, so I prepared myself to be painfully killed; and I mean honestly, it's not like anyone would actually care if I died.

That's when she showed up, and my life was completely changed forever.

She just showed up out of absolutely nowhere, and all of a sudden, the whatever-it-was was pulled off of me as it wrestled with a tall girl who had spiky black hair that was held back by a thin silver circlet on top of her head.

Suddenly, the thing broke out of her grip, and backed up so that it had enough space to attack. The girl pulled a bow and arrows out of literally nothing this time (honestly, I was actually watching this time) and took careful aim at the things mouth. That's when I realized that it was the thing we were just learning about in history; the Nemean Lion. Man, is that thing more frightening in real life than in pictures.

The lion disintegrated into a gold powdery dust as soon as her arrow hit it. Then she turned to me and I saw her eyes were a shocking shade of bright blue; very unlike my own eyes, which are blue, but not nearly as bright as hers.

"Hey, I'm Thalia. I'm guessing you probably don't know what just happened do you?" Thalia said. That's when I realized that I was just staring open-mouthed at where she was standing, and where the Nemean Lion had been seconds before.

"What did you just do? What the heck just happened here? Who are you really?" I asked, still not sure what was going on, and wanting answers.

"Well, I just saved you're life, the Nemean Lion attacked you, and I already told you I'm Thalia; but I think you already knew that much." Thalia answered my questions, but not to the extent I wanted her to, so I tried again.

"Okay then, why did this happen? How does that lion exist? How did you get here?" I asked even more questions, this time more specific questions.

"Well, you're a demigod, all the Greek myths are real, and the satyrs are working overtime, so Artemis wanted us to travel the country trying to find more demigods before they get killed." I don't know what I expected Thalia to say, but it sure wasn't that.

"WHAT? Demigod? Me? Satyrs? Artemis? Huh?" I know I didn't make any sense, but I was starting to freak out. Is she for real? Greek myths being true, that's just insanity!

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it's weird and hard to take in, but it's completely true and unless you want to have more run-ins like that one, I suggest you listen and let me take you to our camp for a little while." Thalia said, acting like it was the most normal thing in the world. Then again, if she can kill the Nemean Lion like that, maybe it really wasn't a big deal to her.

"Okay, but first let me grab my stuff from my foster home first, and are you a demigod too?" I asked Thalia, knowing the answer was most likely yes to the question, but having no idea how'd she respond to me going to get my iPod.

"Fine, and yes, I'm a daughter of Zeus." Wow, daughter of the god of the sky, pretty impressive. I probably should have figured that out though, with her eyes the color they are. I really didn't know how to respond to that though, so I just started walking in the direction of Sue and Harry's house, hopefully for the last time in my life.

We finally made it to the door, and I used my key to open the door. I warned Thalia she might want to stay outside, but she was too stubborn to listen to me and came in anyway. Unfortunately, Harry was actually home, so I tried my best to just walk around him and not say anything to alert him to my presence.

Thalia however, just stood in the middle of the room looking around her and Harry couldn't help but notice her, no matter how stupid he is. So, naturally, he turned to yell at me even though I had done nothing except let one of my "friends" into the house.

"Nicole, what exactly is that girl doing in my house? And why are you back here so early, you never show up until at least after eight! The least you can do is stay out of my way when I come back from work, but _no_ you just have to show up and ruin it all! It's as if the five minutes we spend together every day aren't enough for you and you have to ruin my quiet time by showing your face in here!" Harry practically screamed at me. He works the night shift at Denny's (classy, right?) so he leaves at 7:30 P.M. and comes back at 8:00 A.M. after I already left for school.

"Sorry, I was just getting my things. As soon as I'm done with that, I'll leave and you'll never have to put up with me again! Happy?" I was just as mad as he was, but I was better at controlling my volume. Thalia was just watching this, not saying anything; pretty smart move on her part.

I pushed past Harry and ran up the stairs before he could say something else or throw anything at me. I got to my "room" and grabbed my iPod, hairbrush, and some of my clothes that were scattered across my floor. I shoved my iPod into my pocket, and rolled my clothes around my brush so I could carry it all easier.

As soon as I was done I ran back down stairs to find Harry and Thalia staring each other down. _Oh no_ I thought, _this can't end well!_

When neither of them moved, I coughed. Both of them spun around to face me and I smiled. Better get this over with soon!

"Well, I'm ready to leave, so Harry, please tell Sue that I lied this morning, I _did_ end up running away; so good-bye and good riddance. We'll just leave you alone with your television and alcohol! Come on Thalia, we probably shouldn't stay to watch this." I said, turning to the door and starting to walk away. Thalia followed, looking somewhat amazed at what I had just said to my legal guardian.

When we were about half a foot away from the door I pulled Thalia down so that she didn't get hit in the head with whatever Harry had just threw at me. After that smashed, I dragged her with me as we sprinted out of the house and down the street.

Me being the insane person I am started laughing hysterically while the daughter of Zeus just stared at me. I kept laughing until Thalia told me we still had to get back to her camp. I nodded and followed her down the street. It was quiet, and I can't stand awkward silences, they're just too . . . awkward.

"So, how did you find me anyway? I mean, I'm really glad you did and I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything, but I'm just wondering." I asked her, I honestly don't know if I was expecting her to answer or not, but she didn't; guess that ends the conversation.

We kept walking in silence, walking through the forest behind my school, until we came across a clearing where there was a bunch of silver tents all grouped around a fire. Thalia showed her tent and told me to wait there as she went to talk to Artemis about me. Wow, I don't think I've been talked about by a goddess before! Yeah, that was slightly sarcastic.

After a few minutes, Thalia walked back in with a girl who looked about 12. She seemed to be glowing slightly, more so than Thalia was, at any rate. I wonder if she's Artemis.

"Hello Nicole, I am Artemis, goddess of the hunt." Well, I guess that answers that question!

"Hello Lady Artemis." I said, not knowing what else to say, because I mean, she is a Greek goddess! She's actually my favorite goddess, but I probably shouldn't tell many people that now that I know they're real; someone might get offended. I'm guessing it probably isn't a good idea to make a god or goddess mad.

Lady Artemis looked me up and down, as if checking to see if I was worthy of her presence. I'll admit it, that freaked me out a little bit. What if she made me leave her camp? I didn't have anywhere else to go, and I had no idea how to survive the life of a demigod!

"Nicole, would you like to join the Hunt?" Lady Artemis asked. Well that was completely unexpected! At least, it was to me.

"Sure! What do I have to do?" I asked, liking the idea of being a Huntress. They're so cool! I've heard stories about them, and they are wicked awesome. Lady Artemis smiled at that, I think that's the first time I saw her smile.

"All you have to do is repeat after me 'I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt.' Then, if I accept the pledge, it is binding." Lady Artemis said, and I looked quickly at Thalia. Eternal maidenhood, that would mean being immortal; I wonder how old she really is even though she looks like she's only sixteen.

"I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt." I said hoping I didn't mess up anything.

"I accept your pledge, welcome sister. Thalia, show her were to sleep and introduce her to the rest if the Huntresses." Lady Artemis said before leaving the tent.

"So, do you feel any different now?" Thalia asked. She smiled and walked over to where I stood, surprised at how simple that was.

"Yeah, I feel like now I have to stop rating guys on a scale of one to ten." I said jokingly, because I honestly never did that before in my life. I did feel stronger though, almost invincible. She just laughed and led me out of her tent.

"You'll be sleeping here, with Lauren." She said, leading me over to the tent farthest away from Lady Artemis's and Thalia's. That's probably where they put the newest hunters. We walked in and found Lauren lounging around with one of the other hunters.

"Nicole, this is Lauren, your roommate, and Ella. Ella, Lauren, this is Nicole. She just joined the Hunt." Thalia said before walking back out of the tent again. Ella and Lauren both welcomed me to the Hunt, and Lauren showed me where I would be sleeping. I was surprised at how nice they were to me; I guess I now have a real family.

I spent the rest of the day meeting some of the other hunters, and hanging out with Lauren and Ella. Lauren is a daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom; and Ella is a daughter of Eos, the goddess of the dawn. I felt kind of awkward when someone asked me who my Greek parent was, because I didn't know. Lauren told me that the hero of Olympus, Percy Jackson, had all the gods and goddesses swear upon the River Styx that they would claim all their demigod children before their thirteenth birthday; although, that didn't help with my problem much, because I was now going to be twelve and three-hundred sixty-four days for the rest of my immortal life until I fall in battle. My godly parent had all the time in the world technically.

I was a little upset that I wouldn't know who my real parents were, or are, or well, you get the idea! I lived my whole life thinking my mom had died and my dad had left her, but now I find out that one of them has just been ignoring me. Not exactly the most reassuring thought in the world, but Ella told me that most demigods' lives are like that; though some of the lucky ones get to know their mortal parent before finding out that they're a demigod.

The hunters are all really nice; it's like having a bunch of older sisters that will look out for you if you ever get cornered by a deadly monster! After I was introduced to most of them that were there, it was time to sit down for food. I was pretty hungry, because the only thing I had to eat all day was one school lunch burger; not the most tasty thing in the world. It turned out that we had to eat vegan food, because some of the Huntresses were daughters of Demeter, or nymphs, or someone who just dislikes meat.

After dinner, it was time for us to get some rest, because according to Thalia "we are going to look for eve more girls tomorrow!" So we all went back to our respective tents, and Lauren and I said good-bye to Ella. Then we went back to our tent and got ready for bed. We both changed into our pajamas and got in our sleeping bags. Sleeping on the floor wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as I thought it would be, but I still couldn't get to sleep. I pulled out my iPod and set it on shuffle. I know it sounds corny, but that night I fell asleep listening to Miley Cyrus's G.N.O. and for the first time in a while, didn't have a single dream.

_**Did you like it? Did you hate it? Either way, please tell me!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hey! Thanks for the reviews! I will try my best to update, but I just started school on the 9**__**th**__** so it might not be real soon. I am trying my best, so please be patient with me! Thank you!**_

_**And I do not own anything in this story and do not plan to, with the possible exception of Nicole, Lauren, and Ella; although, honestly I'm not sure if I own them at all . . . **_

I woke up early the next morning, even by my standards; and believe me, that's saying something! I knew I couldn't get back to sleep now, so I stepped out of the tent and into the fresh air outside; trying my best not to wake up Lauren who was resting peacefully on the floor next to me.

The cold chill in the air woke me up a little, but not enough, so I decided to go to the cliffs and watch the sunrise. I wonder if I'll be able to see Apollo; that would be cool considering the fact that I had watched the sun rise and set practically every day of my life, and never knew that it/he was actually a PERSON!

Sitting on the edge of the rocks, I thought about the past few days and how much they've changed my life already. I think the only downside is that the Hunters don't have wall outlets, as far as I know. I really should ask Lauren if there's a way to charge my iPod, because I think I might have drained the battery last night. I hate when that happens, but it does eventually, and life goes on. Well, most lives do, I would die without my music, but maybe that's just me!

The Hunters have given me a place to stay that I won't have to worry about getting relocated from unless I decide I want to go off chasing boys sometime, meals that consist of real food and not plastic like school food or ashes like what I normally receive from my foster parents, and most importantly, a home and family. These girls are so nice, and I'm really looking forward to the next few years; or maybe it will be the next few hundred years, I guess it all depends on how good of a fighter I am.

As absorbed in my thoughts as I was, I didn't hear Lauren come up behind me. Curse her uncanny ability to sneak up on me when I'm least expecting it!

"Hey." I nearly fall off the edge of the cliff from shock. The soft voice was right behind me and I immediately turned around. I saw my roommate standing there and immediately felt a little bit embarrassed at my almost-death-fall from lack of grace.

"Oh, hey; I didn't hear you." Wow, this was how I decided to start my conversation, with one of the most obvious statements in the world. Great Nicole, very smart!

"I could tell! What are you doing up so early?" Lauren laughed lightly at my very idiotic opening, and then got slightly more serious in her tone of voice. I probably should have left a note or something for her, just so she wouldn't think that I had snuck off and gotten myself killed; which I wouldn't put past me.

"I couldn't sleep, and wanted to watch the sunrise." I said, blunt and straight to the point. I have such awful conversational and social skills, I even shock myself.

"Not trying to flirt with Apollo are you? Because if you were, Lady Artemis would tear you limb from limb." Apparently Lauren is just as straightforward as I am. I guess you never have to worry about _us_ keeping anything from you!

"No, of course not! If I was going to get myself killed, I would want to die for am actually important reason, not flirting with a god; and I want to die quickly instead of a slow and painful death. I would rather have someone kill me so hard that I died to death instead of dying from loss of blood like Romeo or Juliet." This is a pleasant conversation. Death is a very serious subject. _**(Inside jokes between me and some of my friends! I just had to include them if I was talking about death and dying!) **_

"Yeah, that makes sense; but if you aren't trying to see Apollo without Lady Artemis's permission, than what are you doing out here?" Of course, leave it to Lauren to ask a question like that. Didn't I already tell her I was out here to try to see the sunrise?

"I'm here to see the sunrise. I love watching it, with all the beautiful colors that it makes; it's just so gorgeous! Wherever I was, I always watched the sun because it was a constant in my life; unlike so many other things." Honestly, I don't know why I'm telling her this, but if she doesn't get up and walk away I guess that's a good sign!

"Oh, didn't you grow up with foster parents?" Lauren asked. I don't normally tell people this stuff, but no one ever really asks, so this is a first.

"Yeah, emphasis on the's' in parents." I should work on trying to control my tone of voice more. I never noticed it before, but I sound . . . rude!

"How long have you been with your foster parents?" Again, with the questions no one ever asks! Is she doing this on purpose?

"Which ones? I've been with my current foster parents for almost two months now, before that one and a half, before that two and a half, before that one, then three, than only a week, than four, than three and a half, then two, then one, then a week, then, well, I think you get the point. I don't think I've ever lasted more than four months though." I wonder what question she's going to ask next.

"How many foster parents have you _had_?" It sounded like she was impressed, which she probably was. I've never heard of someone being rejected so many times before.

"Seventeen. I think I probably set a record; seventeen different sets of foster parents in only six years." I know I sounded really bitter about that, but it wasn't something I was proud of; no matter how many jokes I make about it.

"Wow, you probably did set a record. How did you get so many adults to hate you?" Okay, now I'm almost positive she's asking these questions just because no one else has. Why else would anyone want to hear about my miserable life?

"I honestly have no idea; but enough about me, what's your story?" Ha! Take that Lauren! Now it's my turn to ask the questions.

"My story isn't nearly as interesting as yours," I rolled my eyes at that. "but I'll tell you. My mom's Athena, so I was delivered to my dad by the north wind. It turns out he hated me and sent me to live with my aunt. Not, like, my aunt as in a goddess, but as in my dad's sister. I stayed with her until I was thirteen, that's when a monster came and killed her; I escaped but just barely. Then Ella found me and I joined the Hunt; I've only been here for about two months." Lauren said all of this pretty quickly, like she wanted to get it over and done with; but paused every now and then when it was obviously something that she didn't like reliving.

"Oh, wow, you didn't have to tell me all that. I would have been happy with an 'I was almost killed and then joined the Hunt.' It seems like that's almost everyone's story here." It was completely true; most of the hunters have been attacked but found just in time by other hunters.

"Yeah, but it feels good to say it, you know?" Yes, I did know exactly what she was talking about; it's great to talk to someone who actually listens and cares.

"Besides, I had it easy compared to most half-bloods. I at least knew who both of my parents were; most only know either their mortal parent or are in foster care like you. Some are even adopted and don't know it! I would hate that, at least I knew my aunt." When I heard her say that, I felt really bad for complaining about my life for so long. She had known her family and her father hadn't even wanted her; then she went to live with the only person who had ever loved her and saw her killed right in front of her.

"I guess, and you are so lucky to have your mom's eyes! It makes figuring out who she is a lot easier, and they're really pretty." Lauren's eyes really were gorgeous, she is actually lucky to have them; and in the light of the sun that was just now rising, they looked ten times better.

"Yeah, but yours are too, especially in the morning sunlight like this. They're a perfect shade of blue!" I guess, wait, BLUE! My eyes are hazel so they change occasionally, but I've never heard them called blue before. Green and brown yes, but not blue._** (This has actually happened to me! My eyes are normally brown or green or both, but one morning my friend was like "In the sunlight from that window your eyes are blue!" It was SO weird!)**_

"Really, they're blue? They've never looked blue before!" I was now freaking out, and having a mini spasm! Was this normal?

"Wow, really? WAIT! Now they're brown! It was like they were blue when the sun was rising and directly in front of us, but then they changed at the exact same time that the sun moved! Ohmigods! I wonder if . . ." This is seriously starting to freak me out now! What is wrong with me? And why didn't she finish that last sentence?

"What? You wonder if what?" What wasn't she telling me? If has something to do with what just happened considering my eye color, I want to know!

"Well, I wonder if maybe -"

"Lauren! Nicole! Where are you guys?" Of course, Ella has to interrupt us at the exact time that Lauren was about to tell me what she had thought of!

"Hey, Ella. We were right here, we were just . . ." Lauren trailed off at the end again, and I did some quick decision making.

"Lauren was trying to teach me how to tell the time from looking at the sun, I failed epically, so it took a long time." I lied, and Lauren gave me a grateful look before turning back to Ella. Ella then started talking about how it was time for breakfast and we should be there for it, so we followed her back to our campsite.

"This is fascinating, but does anyone know where I can charge my iPod? It's almost out of battery, and I would die if I failed on me!" Ella looked at me like she couldn't believe that I cared about my iPod so much, but Lauren just laughed.

"Wow Nicole! I really shouldn't have expected anything other than that considering how you treated it last night, but I didn't know you needed your iPod that much!" I laughed at that too, last night I had set it in my pocket, then rolled over so that it wouldn't be smashed against the ground and put my hand over it just to make sure that it was still there. I am such a geek!

_**There it is! The second chapter! Did you like it? I know it had absolutely no action in it except for talking, but I liked it, and I really want to know if you did too! Please review! Thank you!**_

_**~monkeypicklez**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Oh my gosh, I had this all typed up and perfect, but then I accidentally clicked the wrong button and it all disappeared! Now I have to retype it all! I'm sorry to anyone who is awesome enough to be reading this! You are amazing, thank you so much!**_

_**I OWN NOTHING!**_

Ella, Lauren, and I all sat down around the fire pit while the rest of the huntresses filed out of their tents. After a quick breakfast of fruit and water, Lady Artemis walked out, handed an important looking paper to Thalia, greeted us, and then walked back into her own tent. The paper looked like a list, but I couldn't be sure.

Thalia read the paper, and then nodded to herself. She started talking, pointing at a hunter, and then reading something off of the paper. I guess it really was a list.

When it was finally Lauren's turn, I was shocked when she pointed to both of us at the same time.

"You two will be heading to a small town in Florida called . . . Arcadia. There's a twelve-year old demigod there whose birthday is in a few months. Lauren, you teach Nicole how things work in the Hunt, and both of you need to find this demigod before the monsters do." Where the Hades is Arcadia? How are we supposed to find a demigod there in the first place? Do they know whose daughter she is?

"Well, this is going to be fun. Do you even know where Arcadia, Florida is?" Lauren shook her head in answer to my question, and I was glad I wasn't the only one who never passed geography in school.

"Alright, everyone who's going out today go get ready and meet the rest of us out here in five minutes. If your name wasn't called, then stay here until we get back." Lauren and I ran back to our tent and got a backpack together. We packed a few snacks like power bars, an extra jacket in case it was cold, and of course, my iPod. We had plugged it in before breakfast, so now the battery was only half-way dead. It should last long enough.

We met the other girls in front of the hearth (Hestia would be proud), and we all walked into the forest. We started as a group, but every now and then a Huntress would walk off on their own and disappear. My guess was that we could get anywhere we wanted to from this one patch of trees. Note to Self: Never go wandering around in here on my own!

Finally, Lauren said that it was time for us to leave the group and I followed her as we split off from the silent huntresses. I was kind of glad to leave the quiet non-talking girls behind and set off on our own.

We exited the trees via forest path and appeared on the side of a road with the sun beating down on us. It was the middle of December and it had to be 87° Fahrenheit out here! Geez doesn't Apollo own a calendar?

"Ohmigods; It is burning down here! I guess we won't need that extra jacket we packed." She was right of course, but in spite of myself, I grinned.

"Why are you smiling? We'll never find that half-blood here!" She had a point, but I was still beaming from ear to ear.

"True, but we're in Florida Lauren; it's always hot down here. You have to expect that and the people here will be talking about how cold it is where we just were at camp. Come on, smile; we'll find her. Besides, we're in the Sunshine State, baby!" You couldn't help be happy down here, maybe that's the real reason for the state's nickname. It would explain why Texas is sometimes hotter, but Florida is still the Sunshine State. I've always wondered about that.

"Okay, but we still don't know where to find her." She smiled at my enthusiasm, but then sobered up again as she started talking about our reason for being here in the first place. Lauren was really trying hard to make this a serious conversation, but she was failing miserably.

"Well, aren't you supposed to be showing me how the Hunt works? Go on, teach!" I teased her to try to lift her mood, and I think it might have worked a little bit, but not as much as I had been trying for.

"Fine, rule one: be prepared for anything, you never know what might be lurking around the corner. Rule two: don't be overly perky, missy! You're sunnier than those Apollo kids at that stupid camp of theirs. Rule number three: Don't get yourself involved with a guy in any situation. Lady Artemis hates it if we have to depend on boys at all. Rule number four: um, uh, follow the first three rules and try your best to stay alive." She didn't have a fourth rule, so she hesitated before saying it. Way to be a smart child of Athena Lauren!

"Ha! You so didn't have a fourth rule, but I will try my best to follow those rules and stay alive to the best of my abilities." I had to rub it in that she didn't know the fourth rule, because I don't often get a chance to gloat. Lauren just sighed and continued talking.

"Most likely, she'll be in middle school, so we should find a bus stop and start looking there; follow me." She walked off and I trailed behind her.

After about a minute, I got bored so I pulled my iPod out of our backpack that was strapped over Lauren's back. She didn't even pause, and I put the ear buds into my ears. Putting _Keep Your Mind Wide Open_ on repeat, I started to nod in perfect syncopation to the beat and even stepping in time. I guess once a marching band geek, always a marching band geek.

"Wait." Lauren stopped so suddenly that I ran into her. I couldn't her warning over the music that was blaring into my ears, so she pulled my headphones off of me. I was about to protest when she pointed over to the side of the street; I looked in that direction and saw what I immediately recognized as a bus stop.

There were two kids sitting off to the side away from everyone else; they looked like they were brother and sister and I was almost positive that they were the demigods here. I recognized the rejection from normal kids from my own personal experiences.

"Look at their eyes; they're forest green which means that they are most likely a son and daughter of Demeter. Plus, the girl has a picture of a flower on her shirt and they're sitting in the dirt." I hate to admit it, but Lauren was completely right. That's when I was starting to feel unloved, if it was that easy to figure out whose child you are, then why haven't I been claimed yet?

We stood off the side and watched them discreetly, not wanting to appear as stalkers. What we were really afraid of, was that monsters might reach them before we could. Since Lauren took my iPod away from me, I got extremely bored extremely quickly.

"Hi! I'm Nicole, what are your names?" I admit it might seem a little strange to those poor kids, but I looked about their age, so I don't think it mattered that much.

"Hey, I'm Taelor and this is my brother, Zackary. He goes by Zack; we're fraternal twins, but I'm older according to our dad." Zack glared at Taelor when she said she was older, but didn't actually say anything.

"Okay, so you guys live with your dad?" I don't want to freak them out to where they won't answer my question; but I really need to know more about them.

"Yes, we do." Zack is the complete opposite of Taelor. Taelor was really happy and inviting, while Zack was almost downright hostile. Maybe it's because they're twins, or maybe that's just the way they've always been.

"Oh, that's cool! So how old are you guys, and when's your birthday?" I really didn't want to seem like a stalker, so I probably shouldn't ask where they live just yet.

"We're twelve, but our birthday is in around three months on the first day of spring; March 20th!" Wow, so their birthday is the first of spring and they live with their mortal dad; I'm guessing that they really are children of Demeter. I glanced over to where Lauren was standing a few feet away listening to or conversation and trying to find things that I might have missed; she had that smile on her face that she only got when she was right.

"Well, that's awesome!" I left it at that so I didn't scare them, but I probably shouldn't have bothered because Zack was staring at me like he already hated me.

"Now that you could probably write a very short biography about us, what about you; the only thing you told us about yourself, is that your name's Nicole. Why don't you answer your own questions, starting with 'who do you live with'?" I guess I was right, he was definitely mad at me.

"Okay, but you probably won't believe me when I say that I live with-" I was cut off by Taelor's scream as she was staring over my shoulder. Zack and I both turned around to see what had scared her so badly, and Zack immediately moved to try to block his sister from the two _dracaenas _that were fighting with Lauren about five yards away from us.

"Oh, STYX!" I cursed, and started looking around for something I could use as a weapon, or at least something that would distract them while Lauren killed them. I was turning around, when I felt something on my back. I reached my hand up to feel what it was, and it turned out that it was a silver bow and a quiver of arrows.

I pulled the bow off my back and held it in my hand while I got an arrow notched. I tried my best to get a good shot at the monsters without accidentally hitting Lauren, so I took aim and let the arrow go.

Surprisingly, the arrow flew straight through the air and hit the _dracaena_ that was about to stab Lauren, right in the stomach. She disintegrated into a pile of golden dust, while her fellow turned to me. The other monster started running at me with a knife, and all I had was a bow and some arrows that won't help much in close combat. I was doomed!

All of a sudden, a rock came flying at the _dracaena_ and hit her square in the head. She turned away from me and faced the direction that the rock had come from, and I took those few seconds to shot an arrow at her left hip. The small advantage I had, doubled as an arrow came flying at her from the other side of her, hitting her in the right shoulder.

She went up in a puff of dust and I saw Lauren standing there with her own bow out and a smile on her face. I grinned and then turned to where the rock came from. I saw . . . ZACK! He must have seen the look on my face because he shrugged

"Hey, if you two had gotten yourselves killed, then we wouldn't have an explanation as to what just happened." He said this just as blunt and straightforward as Lauren and I always say things. He would fit in perfectly; too bad he's a guy. Oh, darn it! Wasn't that rule number three that Lauren was talking about, being in debt to a boy?

"Well, that's true, but I think we better involve your dad in this conversation too. It involves him deeply." Zack and Taelor both nodded at my suggestion and lead us away to where their house is. Lauren caught up to me and handed me my iPod. I gratefully put the song _Dynamite_ on, and put the headphones back in my ears again.

"That was an amazing shooting job Nicole! You haven't even used the bow yet, and you got in a perfect shot!" I hadn't really thought of that, but yeah, it's true. I hadn't even held a bow and arrows before now!

"It just felt right; maybe it's a Hunter thing." I had convinced myself of that, but Lauren was shaking her head.

"No, it's definitely not a Huntress thing; because I didn't have that good an aim when I first joined." Hey, I finally found something that I was good at besides band! I was saved from having to actually say anything though, because Taelor and Zack had stopped in front of a white and blue painted house with a beautiful garden in front of it.

Now it's the hard part, trying to convince them all that we're not crazy!

_**Did you like it? It's not as good as the first time I wrote it all, but it was the same plot. Please review! Thanks!**_

_**~monkeypicklez**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hola**__**! I'm supposed to be practicing my Español para la clase de Español! **__**So I wrote that in Spanish! I hope you like this chapter, it was harder to write than the other ones, but I really hope you like it; even though I own nothing here except the characters that come from my imagination!**_

We walked into Taelor and Zack's house, and it was like stepping into a greenhouse. I'm not exaggerating; this place was filled with so many plants that I couldn't walk through it without accidentally treading on some type of flower, or root, or leave, or vine, or, well any other plants!

Zack and Taelor's dad was walking around watering every single plant in that house. I now see why Demeter picked this guy out of a crowd; he had to be the dictionary definition of 'tree-hugger'!

The twins (Taelor and Zack, not Artemis and Apollo!) entered the room and went straight to him, all of the plants bending right around their feet. Gods were they lucky that they didn't have to worry about stepping on all the greenery in this house. Taelor walked straight up to her father.

"Daddy, these two girls saved out lives! No one at the bus stop even noticed the fight even though I have never seen anything like those two snake ladies in my life!" Their dad looked up worriedly when she mentioned "snake ladies" and saw Lauren and me standing in the doorway, in the only plant-free space.

"You two are Hunters aren't you? She said that this might happen, but I didn't know that it would be so soon; I mean they're only twelve!" He must have seen our silver clothes and knew that we were like his daughter and son. At least her knew that he had kids with a goddess; I'm pretty sure that some demigod's mortal parents don't even know that much!

"They're thirteenth birthday is coming up soon, and when they turn thirteen it becomes a lot more dangerous. Once they get older, then their scent will fade away slightly; but for now, it's at its strongest." I tried my best to explain what I knew about demigods, but since I was new to this life myself, I looked at Lauren so that she could explain the rest.

"Your daughter could join the Hunt with us, or she could choose to stay with her brother at . . . Camp Half-Blood." The way she said "Camp Half-Blood" I had feeling that either she personally or the Hunt has a back-story relating to that.

"Can someone just tell us what's going on here! I am really tired of being left in the dark and not knowing what you guys are talking about!" Zack was obviously annoyed that we still hadn't explained anything to him and Taelor; and that their dad knew about this the whole time and never told him.

"Okay, just calm down, dude! All that Greek mythology you have most likely learned about in school is completely real. You two, Lauren, and I are all demigods, just like the heroes from the stories. Sir, do you know who their mother is?" I directed the last part to their dad who nodded.

"She said her name was Demeter, but I didn't believe her until the cradle showed up on my doorstep." I looked at Lauren very briefly when he mentioned a cradle because that was part of her story too, but she hadn't even blinked.

"Wait, Greek mythology is real, Zack and I are half-bloods, and our mother is Demeter, goddess of the harvest and agriculture?" They grasped that concept quickly! I'm impressed.

"Yes, and I hear that she also loves cereal. Do you guys have that for breakfast much?" I asked them, and they gave me looks that clearly said "well, DUH! What else would we have for breakfast?"

"Well, DUH!" What else would we have for breakfast?" Apparently I'm better at reading people's expressions better than I thought. I had that look pegged word for word!

As soon as Zack said that, a poppy flower popped out of the vines that were supposed to be sunflowers. Aren't poppies the flower of Demeter? I guess they just got claimed, the lucky ducks!

"Congratulations, you are now officially the son and daughter of Demeter, goddess of the earth, agriculture, fertility, corn, grain, and the harvest." Lauren said that, and it still managed to sound so official.

"Yeah, congratulations on getting yourself claimed, yippee!" I know I sounded really rude, but now I was bitter. I was months older than them and they still get claimed before me! That is so not fair in any way!

"Uh, thanks? Now, what were you saying about some kind of camp?" I guess Taelor doesn't want to leave her brother, but I don't know why not; he's been nothing but a jerk to us!

"Uh, Lauren, should we take that back to our camp before taking them to that other camp?" I really didn't know how this worked yet, so I had to (however grudgingly) turn to Lauren for help.

"Yeah, we should tell Lady Artemis and Lieutenant Thalia that we did find the demigod that lives in Arcadia, that she has a brother, and that they need to get to camp. I hope that some one else found a half-blood that doesn't want to join the Hunt." I nodded and we turned back to Taelor and Zack's dad to explain the situation to him.

When we were done, the fraternal twins packed up their stuff and said good-bye to their dad and the four of us started off to the woods.

Of course, after only ten seconds I pulled out my iPod and stuck the ear buds into my ears. The song _Ordinary Girl_ by Miley Cyrus going through an identity crisis as Hannah Montana was playing, so I just went with the flow. It seemed to fit the situation too, none of us were really ordinary, but we really wanted to be deep down.

Being my normal random self, I started to walk in time to the song and bob my head up and down almost subconsciously. That's when Zack started staring at me like I had mental issues, and Taelor and Lauren joined in my singing. I was totally into the song _Dance Forever _by Allstar Weekend, when we finally arrived back at camp. We were all smiling (except Zack, of course) and in good moods. I saw Thalia and pointed Lauren in her direction, not missing a single word in the song's lyrics.

Lauren pulled all three of us over to meet with the lieutenant and pulled my headphones out from my iPod. I should learn how to keep my ear buds out of her reach at all times, so that she doesn't keep doing this everyday. Lauren was holding my headphones, and talking to Thalia at the same time.

"Okay, we have to tell Lady Artemis before we do anything else." Thalia led us all into Lady Artemis's tent, and I think for the first time, Zack was looking extremely apprehensive and scared.

"My Lady, the half-blood from Arcadia, Florida is here; but she has a twin brother and refuses to leave him behind to join the Hunt." I wonder if all the Huntresses were this blunt, or if it's just us.

"Then I guess a trip to Camp Half-Blood is order. Alert the Huntresses that we leave tomorrow morning with the sun." Thalia nodded and pulled us out of the tent again, before Lady Artemis had a chance to curse Zack into oblivion for daring him to even step foot into her tent.

"Well, I guess we're going back to camp. I'm going to tell the hunters while you two can show these two around camp and keep him out of sight of the others." Thalia smiled at me before walking off.

"I need to charge my iPod again, the battery's almost dead! I can't live with that." I walked back to our tent, with the other three following me with Zack trying to stay in-between Lauren and Taelor.

I almost laughed at his failing efforts to hide himself, but with-held the urge to crack up. We got to our tent and I plugged my iPod into its charger. Taelor and Lauren started talking about how well Athena and Demeter worked together to come up with some of the best environmental science breakthroughs in history. _**(I am making up this part; I have no idea if Athena and Demeter ever compromised in history!)**_

Zack would join in occasionally, but mainly the two of us were left out of the conversation. I decided now would be the best time to thank him for the rock in our fight earlier that day, so I thanked him and he thanked me for being there to save him and his sister in the first place; then he said possibly the worst thing he could have said.

"Who's your Olympian parent?" Lauren heard this, and stopped talking to Taelor immediately; watching for my reaction. I know that her real reason is probably to stop me from hurting Zack, but I couldn't care less at this point.

"Why does it matter? Can't I be my own person without knowing who my parents are or aren't? Why is that your business in the first place?" After that I stormed out of the tent, grabbing my iPod on the way out. I could faintly hear Lauren telling Taelor and Zack why I had done that, but I was NOT going to apologize for my behavior.

Hey, _I Won't Apologize_ is a good song; I think I'll listen to that now. I walked out to the cliffs that I had watched the sunrise from just a few hours ago, and sat down a few feet from the edge. I just stared out at the landscape without actually seeing it, and listening to random songs that were running through my mind.

It had to be at least three hours before I was completely ready to go back to camp. I retraced my steps and ended up in front of an almost angry-looking Thalia. She looked more relieved than mad though, so I wondered if she had actually been worried about me.

"Where have you been? Lauren told me what happened, but no one knew where you had gone and you missed dinner; you also scared us because we don't if our Huntress immortality stretches to suicide attempts." They had been afraid that I might commit suicide? I hadn't even thought of it; that's just not the kind of person that I am. I had never had considered it because I just couldn't have done it.

"I was just clearing my head; and I can take care of myself perfectly fine, I've had a lot of practice over the past six years." I left the conversation on that pleasant note, and walked back to my tent to charge my iPod once again then grab something to snack on.

Unfortunately for me, Lauren, Taelor, and Zack were all waiting for me when I got back. They all started to talk at the same time, so I had to hold up my hands to stop the flood of apologies and concerns coming from them.

"Whatever, I don't care right now. I just want to have something to eat!" That brought a smile to Lauren and Taelor's faces, but Zack still looked apologetic. I ignored him and walked over to my charger. I also managed to plug my iPod into the iHome knockoff that I have. The song _Never say Never_ by Justin Bieber started to play through my speakers. I danced around a little until I felt so much better that I was calm enough to sit down and eat something.

Thalia came in to our tent after a half hour long dance party involving me, Lauren, Taelor and my iPod to tell us that it was time to get some sleep. She offered to show the fraternal twins their tent and Lauren and I agreed. We all said good night and then got ready to go to sleep. We had a big day in front of us tomorrow, and we needed all the rest we could get!

_**I am so proud of myself right now! I finished the chapter! My part is over (for tonight at least) and this is the time where you wonderful people reading this come in! It's time to REVIEW! Please! Thank you!**_

_**~monkeypicklez**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hello! If you have any ideas about what you think should happen next, PLEASE REVIEW! Here's chapter 5 which I own nothing except certain characters from!**_

I woke up after a very disturbing dream _**(I'm sorry, but I don't exactly know what's going to happen later on, so I can't describe the dream!)**_ and packed up all my stuff very quickly. I was so fast because I only had a few pairs of clothes, my iPod, the charger, my fake iHome, and some snacks; definitely not a lot of things.

Lauren woke up about five minutes later after Thalia came in to tell us we were going to be leaving in ten minutes. The sun wasn't up yet, so I wonder if that signified anything important.

We left the tent and found Taelor talking with a few of her half-sisters. Zack was hiding trying not to get spotted by any of the other Hunters; which I think is hilarious! He's scared of a bunch of girls that look younger than 16; but since they could all probably kill him in under two seconds with one hand tied behind their back, he has good reason to be scared!

All of the hunters gathered around near the cliffs I've spent so much time at over the past two days. When we got there, the sun was just starting to rise and Lady Artemis joined us to watch its progress.

As it slowly rose through the sky, it looked more like a red convertible than anything. That's when I finally realized that Apollo actually drove this thing through the sky every day and that we were most likely going to catch a ride with him. Wow, I didn't think that Lady Artemis and Lord Apollo got along well enough to ask favors of each other like this.

"Little sis! What's up?" Lord Apollo was talking like a "cool" fifteen-year old in high school. I never expected a god to speak like that, I guess I was ready for more words like shall or shan't or some other old English words like that.

"We found a son and daughter of Demeter, and they need to be transported to Camp Half-Blood. Normally I wouldn't bother, but Demeter is a good friend of mine and I believe that a game of Capture the Flag is in order." The Hunters all cheered at the last statement, and I guessed that Capture the Flag gets very brutal and ugly.

"No problem! I do feel a haiku coming on though" Everyone except Apollo himself groaned at that, so I think that this might not be the kind of haiku that I love, or he just murders the poetry.

"I'm the one driving

We can get to Camp quickly

I love poetry"

Oh my gosh! That had to be one of the worst poems I have ever heard in my life! I can't believe that he's actually the god of poetry with a haiku like that. I normally love poems, but that was just plain pathetic.

"Brother, your haikus still haven't improved, and it's been ten years since you went to Japan." Ha, I completely agree with Lady Artemis on that subject. His haikus need some serious work.

"That's because you can't improve upon perfection! So the Hunters and two demigods need a lift, I think I can help with that." He clicked his car keys and his amazing car turned into a charter bus. We could now all fit, but the convertible looked so much cooler!

Thalia started giving instructions on how to load up our bags into the bus and we all scurried to follow her directions. I grabbed my iPod out of my backpack before putting it on my back and climbing the stairs. As I passed by Lord Apollo who was already sitting in the driver's seat, he glanced up and looked at me. He eyed my iPod and then waved his hand over it.

I freaked and immediately checked to see what he had done to it while he just chuckled. I glared at him while Lauren walked up behind me and glanced between me and Lord Apollo.

"Chill, I just added a longer battery life and more songs! Now it should have an infinite battery length and all of your favorite songs will add themselves automatically." I glanced down at my iPod and checked the little sign along the bottom where the battery life was signified to see it replied with the infinity symbol.

Glancing back up at Lord Apollo, I smiled and thanked him before walking to the back of the bus with Lauren. I started flipping through my songs and noticed that there were now one hundred more songs than there was before I got onto the bus. Scrolling through them, I noticed one song that stuck out to me.

"Hey, the song _Walking on Sunshine_ is on here now!" The Aly and AJ version, of course. I selected it and heard the song start to play. Walking to the seats where the rest of the Hunters were, I noticed that I was, once again, marking time. I wonder if I'll always do that, even though the Hunt doesn't have its own marching band.

"What did you and Apollo talk about up there?" As soon as I passed Thalia, she asked me that question.

"Oh, he pimped out my iPod so that its battery doesn't die and it has more songs." Thalia looked from me, to Lord Apollo, to my iPod that was in my hand, and then back again.

"Okay, but be careful, he loves to flirt with the Huntresses." Again with the blunt statements! What is wrong with us, we can't ever cushion something no matter what we were talking about. I nodded and continued on to my seat. I sat down and started to nod my head to the beat.

The bus took off, and I noticed Thalia was adamantly refusing to look out of the windows. I wonder if she's afraid of heights or something; although I did hear something somewhere that people weren't afraid of heights, they were afraid of falling.

The song switched over to _Something about the Sunshine_ and I started singing along quietly. Pretty soon, I think I got the whole Hunt belting out the lyrics that they knew. I had a lot of solos in the song, because most of the Huntresses didn't know anything except the chorus; but I really didn't mind.

Occasionally I would catch Lord Apollo watching us out of the rearview mirror and smiling every time that we would all sing so loud that I'm pretty sure the mortals in the town we were flying over could hear us. I don't know why he's watching us so much, but with Thalia's warning about his flirting still fresh in my mind, I decided to focus on my music; which was now playing the song _Dynamite_.

That song was a lot easier for me to sing just because of they way the song was. It was faster, and it was more of a rap song in between the choruses. By the time that song had finished, we were at Camp Half-Blood. I wonder what's so bad about this place.

_**Sorry it's so short! I just didn't have anything else to write about their bus ride, and I really want the scene where they arrive at camp to start off the next chapter! If you have any ideas, PLEASE REVIEW! Thank you!**_

_**~monkeypicklez**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hey! So sorry to everyone who is amazing and is reading this story; but between school, band, chorus, laziness, drama auditions, call-backs and rehearsals, procrastination, eating, and sleeping; I really haven't had much spare time at all! To try to make it up to you guys, I think this is my longest chapter yet! Sorry it took so long to update, but I have a very weird way of writing, I either just start writing and don't stop or I write the ending first and then figure out what has to happen for me to have that ending! Anyway, I own nothing in this story except some things that I just thought of at the most random points!**_

_**~monkeypicklez**_

As we stepped off the bus, I turned down the volume on my iPod and put the ear buds back into my ears. _Pocketful of Sunshine_ was playing, and I thought it was perfect for traveling on the sun! All the Hunters piled off of the bus and dragged our stuff behind us, while everyone at the camp was standing there staring at us. Now I know what is so annoying about these demigods; they act like we're aliens from the planet Pluto or something!

I stood by Lauren and Thalia while Apollo hopped out of his car and went to go say hello to his children. Gods, does he have a lot of kids! Or maybe he just claims his kids more than the other gods and goddesses do. Either way, his cabin is almost as full as the Hermes cabin was before the promise the gods took.

Zack and Taelor were greeted warmly by most of the demigods and when people learned who their mother was, they all took off towards the cabins. There were a lot more than twelve cabins now, and I don't feel like standing here and wasting my time counting them all. That could take forever.

Thalia led us towards a man who was taller than everyone else around him; no, wait, he wasn't just tall, HE WAS A CENTAUR! That is so cool! He's half horse and half man; but I think I heard Thalia call him Chiron. Whoa, is that THE Chiron; probably is considering that I just rode on the sun driven by Lord Apollo himself and am one of the Hunters of Artemis. I guess I should get used to this.

We heard Chiron welcome us all to Camp Half-Blood, and then we headed off towards Artemis's cabin. After dumping our stuff off there, Lauren, Ella, and I went out to explore the camp. I didn't know it was so big!

Passing by the arts and crafts cabin, we heard a lot of laughing and decided to go investigate. We walked in to find a bunch of teenagers all with blond hair and gray eyes, just like Lauren. Hey, they must be her siblings! Gosh, maybe all the gods and goddesses have a lot of kids, not just Apollo.

They were all staring at us, until the smallest one there walked up to Lauren. She must have been around six, and she was standing in front of us, looking almost straight up to us.

"Are you one of my sisters too?" Aw, she is so cute!

"If you are a daughter of Athena, then yes. I'm Lauren." The little girl watched her for a little while before hugging her around the leg; because that was the highest she could reach. Lauren smiled a little bit, and Ella and I grinned at her.

"Sorry about that, she loves to meet more of our half-siblings. I'm Antonia, by the way." The girl now addressing Lauren had stepped out from the group. She had blond hair with natural highlights in it. Her eyes were gray, but they looked blue in different lighting sometimes._** (Based off of one of my friends!)**_

All of the rest of the kids in the cabin starting smiling and we all started talking. Well, the guys didn't really participate in our conversation, but they had one of their own while all of us girls talked.

Before we knew it, the conch shell was blown and it was time for dinner. All of us walked out together, and Lauren, Ella, and I joined the rest of the Hunters. We entered the dining pavilion with all eyes on us. I don't normally care if people are watching me, but I can't stand people watching me either read or eat. It's just really unnerving in my opinion.

Mr. D stood up from the head table, and everyone's heads switched from us to him. He looked extremely bored and like he really didn't want to be here. After he said something about punks, rules, and a lot of grumbling, he sat back down again.

That was when Chiron stood up and said that there was going to be a game of Capture the Flag tomorrow afternoon. Judging by the vicious look on my fellow Hunters' faces and the expression on the campers faces, I was guessing that Capture the Flag turned ugly. This was definitely not going to be a friendly game.

Then, wood nymphs came out with platters holding so many different types of food that it would take me way too long to list and describe them all here. There were even a few vegan dishes just for us Hunters. I liked the fact that we got special treatment; it made me feel so loved.

Our glasses remained empty though, so I surreptitiously looked over at Thalia trying to figure out what to do. She stared at her glass for a few seconds as though thinking, and then said "Water" and her glass filled up with clean and pure water.

I gaped for about ten milliseconds, then turned to my own glass and did exactly what Thalia had. It worked perfectly, and the water was cool and refreshing. Then, everyone got up and offered the best part of their meal to the god and/or goddess of their choice. I decided to offer my food to Lady Artemis.

When everyone was done eating, Chiron told us that the Apollo cabin would be leading a sing-along. We all followed them out to a giant amphitheater where there was a huge bonfire. I wonder if Lady Hestia is here somewhere, or if that fire is just magical; probably both.

The Apollo kids all set up this huge technological miracle that allowed them to project an instrumental version of any song they wanted. It was complete and total genius! I watched as a daughter of Apollo, who looked around thirteen with wavy blond hair that came down a little past her shoulders and brown eyes, stepped up to the microphone first_**. (Based extremely loosely off of myself! I wish I sang that well!)**_

Everyone was staring at her, waiting for her to start singing. They must have heard her before, because they looked like they were expecting her to be the best singer they ever heard.

The beginning of the song _Make History_ by Allison Stoner started playing, and the mystery girl started singing. I have to admit, she was good. Her soprano voice rang out through the speakers and sounded perfectly in tune and on time with the music. When the song ended, the crowd yelled for an encore and she obliged. This time, _A Year Without Rain_ by Selena Gomez and the Scene blared through the speakers and the girl sang in more of an alto range.

She ended her performance with an embarrassed smile and handed the microphone to the next person in line. The guy running the whole show yelled out "Let's give it up for Taylor!" The girl whose name is apparently Taylor stepped off the stage and immediately got mobbed by here friends. I was slightly surprised to see Antonia in the group, but was even more surprised when Taylor dragged her and one other girl over to the line of people waiting to have their chance in the spotlight.

It was finally Antonia's turn, and she got up on stage. The music started to play and she surprised everyone by belting out the lyrics to _Break Your Heart_ by Taio Cruz but changing them ever so slightly. We all just kind of stared, and then began to clap so loudly that the wood nymphs threw us dirty looks. She was amazing!

Then the other girl that was pulled on stage by Taylor was standing in front of the microphone. Her name turned out to be Christina, and she was a daughter of Lethe. She had straight blond hair that went halfway down her back, and chocolate brown eyes. _**(Again, based off of one of my friends! Hotdoghea3, if you are reading this, YES! THIS IS YOU!)**_ I never knew that Lethe had any kids; it must have taken a lot to make her remember to claim them.

She waited for the music to start before softly singing along. Taylor was standing next to her, motioning for her to "project her voice" and sing louder. Cristina started to actually use the mike and her voice came out of the speakers. I now recognize the song she was singing as _New Love in Town _by Europe; it was hard to hear before.

The song faded out, and Cristina turned bright red. I didn't know that anyone could blush that much, but she was a deeper shade of pink than the sweaters that most of the Aphrodite cabin was wearing. I had never thought that was even possible!

Cristina and Taylor climbed down and walked back to their group of friends that included them, Antonia, a girl with brown hair and hazel eyes, another brunette this time with blue eyes, and then a blond girl and a girl with dyed black hair who looked slightly excluded as if they weren't really part of the circle but wanted to be. _**(Each and every one based off of people in my class!)**_ They were all grinning and congratulating the three that sang, while Taylor and Antonia tried to convince the two brunettes to go sing.

They managed to talk the blue eyed girl into it, but not the other one. I could hear their conversation perfectly now, because the last singer, who was a thirteen-year old boy about 5 feet tall with blonde hair that looked like a shrub_** (haha, inside joke!)**_, had just finished the song_ Hey There Delilah _and the applause were dying down. He walked off stage, and joined a short blond girl who looked about his age, and they hugged. AW! _**(Yeah, more of my insane friends in demigod form!)**_

The brunette with blue eyes was named Alexandria and the girl who was refusing to sing under any circumstances was named Margaret. Taylor and Margaret seemed to be the loudest ones there, and they were on opposite sides of the argument.

It ended with Taylor winning and Margaret and Alexandria heading up to where the microphone sat waiting for them. Alexandria went first probably so that she could show Margaret that it was nothing to worry about. She sang_ IYIYI_ with the words changed ever so slightly so that she wouldn't be proclaiming her love for a girl, because I don't think she goes that way. Margaret then took the mike from Alexandria and told the guy running the show what song she wanted.

You could hear the beginning chords of _Just Dance_ by Lady Gaga. I briefly wondered how Mr. D would react to the mentions of alcohol in it, but he was, WHOA! THIS IS NOT REAL! IS MR. D ACTUALLY SMILING! Whoa, I didn't think that was ever going to happen in his immortal life! Why in Hades is Mr. D smiling while he is at Camp Half-Blood? I've been here for about four hours, and I already know that he hates the place!

Margaret finished her song, took a bow, and then ran off the stage to join her friends. I didn't realize until it was too late, that Thalia, Lauren, Ella, and a few other Hunters had pushed me forward to take her place. WHAT THE HADES? I do not do well singing solos for a lot of people, and now that gods claim their kids, Camp Half-Blood's demigod population counts as "a lot of people"!

What was I even supposed to sing? Wait, I knew the answer to that question. I pulled out my iPod and handed it to the guy standing over by the machine that runs the whole show. I had already set it on the song that I wanted, so all he had to do was play it. Thanks to Apollo improving it, my iPod now had the instrumental version of a song that never existed before!

The son of Apollo looked somewhat confused when I handed him the iPod, but he quickly got the idea. He plugged in my iPod so that the song started playing over the sound speakers. Everyone stared at me as the song _Go the Distance_ (the Disney Mania 5 version by Lucas Grabeel) started. I quietly sang along into the microphone, but it projected my voice loud enough that everyone could hear it.

I started out really softly and in a high-pitched voice that actually worked well with the style of the song, but then I had to get louder and make my voice go into the lower half of the musical scale. People were just watching me, and it made me really nervous, but I just looked above their heads while I sang; a trick my old drama teacher taught me.

When the song was over, I dashed off stage as quickly as I could. I took the time to grab my iPod, and then walked to the back of the amphitheater. Then, Taylor started applauding and Antonia yelled out "Go Nicole!" Soon, half the crowd was clapping, and they were clapping FOR ME! I feel so loved!

Soon after the thunderous applause stopped, the two girls who had looked left out of the circle were getting up on stage and singing the song _Seasons of Love_. They were daughters of Aphrodite apparently. When their song ended, ten more people lined up to have their turn.

To end the night, a bunch of demigods all got up on stage together and half of them played musical instruments while the other half sang along with them. They played and sang Don't Stop Believing by Journey and it actually pretty close to the original except for the fact that they had one alto saxophone, two tenor saxophones, two trumpets, one clarinet, a guitar, a tuba, and three flutes instead of a piano and a few guys singing, but it still sounded epic. When they finished Mr. D got up on stage and took the mike for himself.

"Yes, yes, as always, Margaret was amazing and the rest of you were okay." Margaret blushed and looked at the ground while her friends laughed. Mr. D plays favorites! I thought he just hated everyone.

"Sorry Mr. D! We'll try to be better tomorrow!" Taylor told him, but it got picked up by the microphone and projected for everyone to hear. We all laughed, and everyone on stage high-fived each other. I'm guessing this is probably the way things work every night.

"Good. Now leave and go back to your cabins before I tell the cleaning harpies to eat you all!" I think that ends the sing-along. Everyone stood up and began making their way back to the cabins.

All of the Hunters went to Lady Artemis's cabin, number eight, together; even though some of them had broken away from the group to speak with their half-siblings during the campfire.

When we were about five feet away from the door, I saw a group of demigods all just standing around talking. They weren't even trying to get back to their cabins on time. There has to be a reason for that! So being the curious person that I am, I walked up to them as quietly as I could and listened in.

_**Yes! I finished the chapter! FINALLY! I am sorry it took so long, but the next one should be a lot quicker! Oh, my marching band is performing for the first time this Thursday night, so wish us luck! The more reviews I get, the more motivated I am to get over my laziness (it's probably my fatal flaw!) and update faster! Even if you couldn't care less if I update ever again in my life because you hate this story THAT much, please tell me anytime! Thanks!**_

_**~monkeypicklez**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Hey! I hope no one has given up on me, but I guess it's my fault if you did! **____** Anyway, I own nothing here except for Taylor because she's me in demigod form!**_

I walked up to them to hear what they were talking about. What was so important that they would risk getting eaten? Oh my gods, they're just gossiping! Are they all Aphrodite kids?

No, wait, that's Antonia! There's Taylor, Cristina, Margaret, Alexandria, the two Aphrodite girls, and a bunch of other kids. There were a lot of guys there, making up the other half of the group.

Most of the guys had blond hair and blue eyes, so I wondered if they were all half-siblings. Then I realized that everyone who had played _Don't Stop Believing_ was there except one of the flute players and one of the trumpets. There was also the short, blond girl that hugged the boy who had sang and played the guitar. In total, there were about fifteen of them.

As I watched, two more demigods walked up and joined the group. One of them was limping slightly, and the other one was trying to help him walk toward us. I wonder what happened to them, and if it was actually important at all.

When they got here, the boy with the limp looked at Taylor and smiled.

"Thanks Taylor, that really helped a lot!" Everyone stared at Taylor, and she blushed. She wasn't nearly as red as Cristina was after she sang, but she was still blushing.

"It was nothing. Most of my half-siblings are a lot better at that kind of thing than I am; well most of them. That was actually my first time healing anything larger than a rabbit. We should probably be thanking the gods that it actually worked. Although you really should be more careful next time you're trying to get away quickly!" Taylor looked embarrassed as she said the first part of that, and I'm guessing that she got teased about it on more than one occasion. Especially since at least two of the guys were acting like they were her half-brothers.

"Well, I'll thank the gods that Robert is fine, but couldn't have you died trying to heal him?" Right on time! Thank you for proving my un-spoken point boy I don't know who just walked up to the group!

"Ohmygods! Thanks a lot Evan! I feel so rejected!" Well, apparently that guy's name is Evan. He had short brown hair, and was kind of tall but most of the boys in the group were really tall, so he wasn't that huge in comparison.

"Good, you should be!" One of the guys that were blond with blue eyes said, but Taylor completely ignored him. I think I heard one of the guys say something like "Go Donald!" when they high-fived him, so I think that's his name.

"Oh, way to be mature guys! No, but, seriously, do you guys think that she really is your half-sister?" Antonia looked around at Donald, Taylor, and one of the other boys that looked like them when she said that. Now that I think about it, they act like they're brothers and sister.

"Well, she sings like one of us, and she was definitely into the music; but she doesn't really look the part. She might be, but I think it's more likely that she's one of our half-siblings' daughters instead of our half-sister." Taylor was the one to say this, but the other two both nodded. I wonder who they're talking about.

"Well, no matter who her parent is, I think the camp has a new favorite singer. Sorry, Taylor!" Everyone including Taylor laughed, but she seemed to be laughing for a completely different reason.

"Haha, don't apologize to me Mickey! Antonia is a better singer, so she would be the camp's favorite anyway, before or after the new girl came!" That just made everyone laugh even more, and Antonia blushed. Apparently the guy who had spoken was Mickey, and he looked nothing like the rest of the group except for one of the other boys.

"Okay, but honestly, I thought there were no more unclaimed demigods!" The one guy that looked slightly like Mickey talked over the laughter and everyone immediately sobered up.

"Norman, the rule was that no one was unclaimed once they turned thirteen, I heard that she joined the Hunters the day before her birthday; just like Thalia did, what, twenty years ago?" One of the Aphrodite girls spoke up this time, I guess because they are the gossip queens of the group. I now had an idea of who they were talking about, and I had a suspicion that it was me.

"Um, Marie, how would you know that?" Okay, hold on, I got this. There's Taylor, Donald, and one other boy who are all kids of Apollo; Antonia is a daughter of Athena; Cristina is a daughter of Lethe; Margaret was a daughter of Mr. D; Marie and her half-sister are both children of Aphrodite; and then Robert, Evan, Mickey, Norman, Alexandria, and then five unknown demigods. That leaves a total of . . . nineteen people all just here to gossip! Wow, they obviously have no lives!

"Julianna and I have our ways!" The way she said that, I was scared. Yep, you heard me right; I was scared of two daughters of Aphrodite. I'm pretty sure a few of the people in the group felt the same way, because they all slowly backed away from her as she said that.

"Right, well then, is anyone else tired?" A girl with really long blond hair yawned as she said this, and almost instantaneously the entire group (including me) all joined her.

"LeAnne! It's not nice to make the rest of us tired, just because your dad's Morpheus! That's nasty!" Cristina started out with a straight face, but soon was laughing along with everyone else.

"Cristina, do you think everything is nasty? You said your lunch was nasty the other day; and it was FOOD!" The tallest guy there was talking about food as if it was the best thing on the Earth. Wow, that's sad.

"Gosh Michael; do you ever stop thinking about food?" Another one of the tall guys was saying this, and from the back, he looked almost exactly like him except slightly shorter.

"Watch it Lover Boy! I'll totally kick your butt in Capture the Flag! I don't care if we're on the same team or not! I hate having the Eros cabin on the same team as the awesome Ares cabin anyways!" Okay, that was completely random but it was funny to watch everyone's reaction to that. Most of them were either laughing or looking scared for their life, before laughing. Maybe it's just really hard to take Michael seriously.

"Ugh, I love Capture the Flag because I totally get to fulfill my threats, but the work afterwards is so exhausting! Seriously, most of my older half-siblings want me to help them heal everyone, and I've only been practicing for a few months! Not. A. Word, James!" Taylor looked pointedly at her half-brother. He looked actually scared for his life now, instead of just faking it like he was before. Gods, Taylor was threatening when she wanted to be!

"Guys, we should probably head back to our own cabins before we get eaten! Although I do love the cold out here, I just wish it would snow more!" One of the flute players from earlier was looking around like she was hoping it would start snowing even though we were inside the camp's protective borders.

"AH! Winter, stop it! Or ask your mom to stop it! Please Lady Chione! It's not time to snow yet!" Okay, was that girl's name honestly Winter? I guess it would explain why her mom is the goddess of snow!

"Sorry Earl, but I just LOVE snow! It's epic!" Oh, so the boy who had guitar and actually sang was named Earl. Okay, I think I'm beginning to understand a little bit more about these kids; but why the Hades would they still be out here only a few SECONDS before lights-out?

"Okay, so we still don't know anything about why the Hunters are _really_ here except that they dropped off two of my half-siblings and we're playing Capture the Flag tomorrow. There has to be another reason that we're missing!" Alexandria was the one to speak up this time. If Taelor and Zack are her half-siblings, then she must be a daughter of Demeter! Wow, I think there's a demigod child of every Olympian in this group.

"Well, they might be looking for new Huntresses too." The boy named Evan pointed this out and everyone nodded. A few of the people looked around at some of the girls in the group as if they were trying to decide who would leave camp to join the Hunt. Apparently, no one was sure on that subject.

"Yeah, that's true. I've talked to Thalia and she says that this place is awesome for the Hunt to recruit more girls; not that I would know." Taylor said this and then added the last bit like it was an inside joke. From the way Cristina, Antonia, Margaret, Alexandria, and LeAnne were laughing; I take it I was right about the inside joke.

"You know, if anyone here was going to go to the dark side just because they offered you cookies, it would be Taylor. Just because no one else here is blond enough to believe that immortality and maidenhood is really better than Camp Half-Blood!" Whoa, did they just call the Hunt "the dark side"? And what's with the cookies thing; that was totally not part of the deal!

"Ohmygods, it's the Hunt! It's not like I'm joining Darth Vader or anything Evan! Honestly, what is so bad about leaving Camp to join the Hunters?" Thank you Taylor! The Hunt is awesome and NO ONE should be allowed to diss it like that.

"You know that our dad is Artemis's twin, right? If their sibling relationship is anything like ours, you have no chance of getting into the Hunt!" Okay, that's true, but I really don't think that Lady Artemis judges her potential-Huntresses by who their parent or parents is or are!

"_Lady_ Artemis doesn't get along well with any men, and who can blame her? I mean, honestly, I think she's even gotten mad at Evan's dad before, and he's her dad too! I honestly don't think it matters, and why are we talking about this at all; my decision and reasons for joining the Hunt have nothing to do with you." Taylor stressed that it was _Lady_ Artemis, and I'm glad that she had the decency to only use Lady Artemis's name and no one else's. James could learn something just by talking to them!

"Whoa, you mean you're actually going to join the Hunt? Oh well, it's not like we'll miss you at all! I am going to go back to my cabin now, so good night everyone!" Okay, that was just plain low, even for a boy! How could Michael be that mean? 'We're not going to miss you at all'? That's rejection, and can't be described as anything else.

"Yeah, I'm going to sleep too. Good night people!" LeAnne walked off to the minor gods' cabins along with Winter and the boy that Michael had called Lover Boy. Apparently his real name was Ace, but they liked to tease him because of his dad. That's racist! Everyone else walked to the Olympian cabins, except for Antonia, Cristina, and Taylor.

"Hello Nicole. I'm guessing you heard our conversation, so how did you enjoy it? We always act that way towards each other, it's really nothing new." Antonia was the first one to address me, but the other two smiled at me. I was trying to decide how to respond to that, when Thalia walked up to us.

"There you are! You're the only one who hasn't shown up yet! Oh, hi Taylor, do you have your answer yet?" Thalia didn't even bother saying hello. That's just the kind of person she is I guess.

"Yes. Yes I know my answer, and my answer is yes." Wow, Taylor makes decisions really quickly. Antonia and Cristina both stared at her as if she never made choices with that much certainty and so fast.

"Great, we'll ask Lady Artemis if she can accept your pledge tomorrow right before Capture the Flag. That way you'll be on the winning team for once, and you'll be able to beat all your half-siblings." That's a really good plan, join the Hunt right before Capture the Flag and surprise everyone by showing up with awesome archery skills and on the Hunters side! That would be fun to watch.

"Okay, thank you Thalia; I can't wait!" Taylor, Cristina, and Antonia all walked off to their own cabins while Thalia and I headed in the direction of cabin number eight. This has been one long day.

_**Hey, I did it! I finished this chapter, thank you to everyone who has read this! I know I spent A LOT of time introducing random demigods, but they're all based off of people in my classes (not all of them can be considered friends) and they'll actually be important later on. Especially in Capture the Flag . . . *insert evil laughter here* Please review! Thank you!**_

_**~monkeypicklez**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Hello readers! I hope that you are actually reading this and haven't given up hope that I would ever finish writing it! Anyways, I own nothing here except Taylor and a few other characters!**_

The next morning when I woke up, I pulled my iPod away from its charger and put the headphones in my ears. Taylor Swift's _Mine_ was playing, but all I could think about was the looming prospect of Capture the Flag. I was excited yet nervous, because from what I heard, the Hunters have never lost yet, but it was always a vicious game with a lot of injuries and the Apollo kids working over-time.

Of course, no one else was up, so I walked out to the beach to see the sunrise. I was surprised to see someone else out there too, I normally wake up before everyone else. By normally, I mean every single day, but apparently not today. I walked closer to see who it was, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was Taylor.

"Oh, hi Nicole. I didn't think anyone else would be out here this early." She barely even looked up before speaking, and I was a little freaked out, but I guess she got used to being super-aware of her surroundings.

"Yeah, ditto. Are you excited about Capture the Flag today? You're going to be on our team." I watched Taylor's reaction, and she looked up at the sky. I wondered what that was about before I realized that she was probably used to looking up at the sun where her dad was.

"I guess so; it's just that I really hope I made the right choice. I mean, I can't wait to be a Hunter, it must be epic; but I'm going to miss my friends a lot. Also, I don't think any of them besides Antonia and Cristina know that I'm going to be on your team." Taylor sighed. I sort of see her point, but I didn't have any friends before joining the Hunt, so I can't exactly sympathize with her on that.

"Yeah, but the Hunt is amazing, you're going to love it." After that we just stayed silent and waited for Lord Apollo to drive by in his sun chariot. It was really quiet and peaceful, until both of our iPods switched from songs that fit the quiet serenity of the moment to louder, more upbeat songs that blared out.

We looked at each other and laughed. It was a good moment, and then Lauren and Ella walked over to us and started lecturing me about leaving before the rest of them even wake up. Oh well, they're just going to have to get used to it.

The four of us all walked into the dining pavilion together and we caught a lot of people staring at us. Taylor winked at us before leaving to sit at her cabin's table. Ella, Lauren, and I all joined Lady Artemis's table along with most of the other Hunters. I noticed that less people were staring at us than yesterday, but it was still a pretty big selection.

I caught a few times that one of the demigods that talked last night, would glance over at me or the other Hunters. Occasionally, one of them would look over at another, and they would appear to be having a silent conversation. That happened especially often between Cristina and Ace; I wonder what's going on there. After everyone got their food, we all proceeded to the huge fire that looked like it hadn't been put out last night, and offered burnt food to the gods and goddesses.

I noticed that Taylor lingered a fraction of a second longer than her half-siblings, and offered twice the amount of food. When it was Thalia's turn, she did the same thing, as did almost the entire Hunt. I guess they must be offering food to their parent AND Lady Artemis. That's probably a very wise choice so that you don't anger or annoy any godly beings.

When everyone had already offered their sacrifices, Chiron stood up and announced that Capture the Flag would take place a little after lunch so that we would have to chance to strategize first. I was glad of that; I really needed the extra time before the game started.

I stood up and walked over to where I had seen most of Apollo's kids walk to, I knew the archery field had to be somewhere near there. Sure enough, there were about twenty targets at different distances all lined up and about ten blond haired kids all with their own bow and arrows.

Grabbing my bow and quiver of arrows out of nowhere, how only Hunters can, I aimed at one of the easier targets and let the arrow go. It hit the bulls-eye exactly, so I took that as a good sign. Moving up the line of targets that got progressively farther and farther away, my arrows hit the target in the middle every time.

That was when I noticed that a lot of campers were staring at me, and even a few sons and daughters of Apollo looked impressed. I walked back to Lady Artemis's cabin like nothing had happened, but still managed to catch a little of what the kids back by the targets were saying.

When I got back to the cabin, I noticed a few things were different from last night. 1) all of the Huntresses that was present at the time were all in a small semi-circle 2) Taylor was in here 3) Lady Artemis herself was actually standing in the middle of the cabin. Oh, this must be what Thalia was talking about when she said we could get Taylor to become a Huntress right before Capture the Flag.

I watched along with everyone else as Taylor recited the pledge and Lady Artemis formally accepted it. Apparently, Taylor had been considering becoming a Huntress for a while, but only just agreed officially.

We formed our Capture the Flag battle strategy with the approval of Lady Artemis, and then went to go practice some of our fighting techniques. Lauren, Ella, another Hunter named Melody, and I all practiced together. We were pretty evenly matched if teamed up, because Lauren and I were both new to most of this while Ella's had more practice and Melody is a daughter of Nike.

After about two hours of training, the four of us all went to go eat lunch in the pavilion. Again, we were served by tree nymphs and it was all vegan food. I never really realized how much of a limited diet vegans had.

Everyone offered the best part of their meal to their parent and/or Lady Artemis, and then sat down to enjoy the rest of the meal. I noticed Taylor sitting with her half-siblings, and she winked at me. I guess she had to stick to our plan as closely as possible.

Soon (but not soon enough, in my opinion) Chiron stood up to announce that Capture the Flag was starting in five minutes. The entire population of the camp seemed to dash off at theses words, and I must admit, even I was getting pretty excited. We had a solid plan and I was positive that we could execute it perfectly.

We all stood and gathered our weapons, and some people grabbed light armor. This is going to be fun; getting to fight it out with random campers we don't know, bring it on!

Everyone all gathered together at the edge of the river while Chiron gave us the official rules of the game. Then the conch horn blew, and we all ran off to our places in the woods so that we could get this game started.

_**Well, that was fun to write! I'm going to my friend's birthday party later today, so I don't when I can post the next chapter (which WILL include the actual game of Capture the Flag), but it will be soon! I promise! Please review!**_

_**~monkeypicklez**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Well, I hope that you enjoy this chapter! Since it is the month of October, it is the month of **__**Hallowee**__**n! And since I'm obsessed with **__**Halloween**__** and forcing my **__**Halloween**__** obsession on other people, I haven't had much time to write! I hope you like the chapter, anyway!**_

I was on patrol duty along with some other Hunters. We were supposed to keep watch on the river so that no campers could sneak over the boundaries into our territory. Thalia had given us the orders to shoot at anyone who crosses over.

It really is a shame that there's no intentional maiming allowed in here. That would make this game EXTREMELY interesting; and help me relieve some stress and anger (I don't care what people might tell you, I do NOT need anger management!).

There were four of us total right here on guard in the trees. We saw two stray demigods trying to sneak across the river, and I think they must have been Poseidon's kids because of the way the water was reacting to them. Norman was one of them, and he seemed to be leading the other one who looked a year or two younger than him.

It was decided wordlessly that we would wait for them to be on dry ground again before attempting to shoot at them. They took their time climbing out of the river to try to reach the flag though, so I was already suspicious.

As the other three Hunters I was with working with watched the two Poseidon kids, I scanned the area around us. I looked around carefully, and was rewarded when I saw a bush move.

Bow raised, I kept watch on the small piece of shrubbery. All of a sudden, Norman and his half-sister climbed out of the river. At the exact same time that three arrows flew, I shot at the greenery and heard a gasp.

It turns out that Antonia and Alexandria were the ones hiding in the bush, and my arrow had gone right between the two of them. It had startled the pair enough for me to gain the time to string another arrow.

As they started to get themselves back together again, I shot one more arrow. It whizzed past Alexandria and hit Antonia in the shoulder. Luckily for her, she had on light armor and the arrow just bounced back off.

Everyone else had realized what was going on by then. Norman and his accomplice ran over to where the two girls were standing and tried to help ward off the attack of arrows being fired at them; but it was too late.

At that exact moment, Thalia ran over the boundary line with Taylor covering her. We had counted on the fact that no one would attack her because they knew she was a camper, and that the only people that did know she was now a Huntress were her friends.

It must have worked because neither of them had so much as a scratch on them. A little late, Donald, James, and another daughter of Apollo came through the trees. The two boys had knives and the girl had a bow and arrows. That's when I noticed that Taylor was missing all of her arrows, and even Thalia was short a few.

Both of the knives were thrown directly at Taylor, while an arrow flew at Thalia. They dodged them, and Thalia fired off a few arrows of her own, while Taylor threw her half-brothers' knives back at their owners with deadly accuracy.

Both Donald and James ducked and the knives impaled themselves into a tree where their heads had been a moment before. They pulled out their weapons, and looked ready for a fight. Taylor had fished a small dagger out of a pocket in her Hunter's vest, and I was afraid this would not end well.

Fortunately, two tree nymphs showed up and started yelling at all five of the demigods for their abuse of trees. That kept them distracted (ADHD, remember?) enough for Chiron to gallop over and announce that the game was official over.

From everyone's faces, I could tell that this had just begun; but they all put away their weapons. Thalia was greeted by most of the Hunt and congratulated, while Taylor and her half-brothers glared daggers at each other, almost literally.

Some of the rest of the group from last night went to talk to Norman, Donald, James, Antonia, and Alexandria. Apparently, she used her powers to make the bush rustle as a signal for Norman and his partner in crime. Anyway, they came to talk, or most likely, gossip. I heard them mention Capture the Flag more than once and I noticed that the guys and even some of the girls had excluded Taylor and were giving her nasty looks.

She just shrugged and walked off on her own, most likely to find some of her arrows. Lauren and Ella ran up to me at that point, and told me what had happened to them during their distraction run. Apparently, Lauren had met Evan, Michael, and Margaret, and Ella had seen Julianna, Marie, Ace, Mickey, Cristina, and Earl. They were a big group, but I guess it was explained by the fact that three of them were children of love deities and Cristina was the daughter of the goddess of forgetfulness. She and Ace seemed to be very close, hmm . . .

I wondered vaguely how big the forest really was to have held all of these minor fights at the same time. That's when Zack came running up to us. I don't know why, but he looked like he was about to freak out, cry, or seriously injure someone. Maybe even all of the above, knowing Zack.

"Have any of you guys seen Taelor lately? I can't find her anywhere!" Oh, well that explains why he looks so frantic. If Taelor's missing, then Zack would probably do anything to find her, He is a really overprotective brother.

"I haven't seen her since before Capture the Flag. Have you guys?" Lauren and Ella both shook their heads and that caused Zack to freak out. None of us had seen her since the game ended.

"If I haven't seen her and you haven't seen her, then where is she?" Didn't we just tell this boy that we hadn't seen his sister, and now he's asking us where she is! Are all boys that stupid?

"How are we supposed to know? You're her brother, you should know these things!" I know that was probably not the nicest thing to say, but he needed to calm down. Taelor was probably just in the woods, exploring.

"But I don't know! Isn't that a bad sign?" Zack started pacing back and down, does he ever sit still? Oh, right, ADHD, my bad.

"DUDE, CALM THE HADES DOWN! You're about to hyperventilate!" He needed to hear it, but I didn't expect Ella to be the one to tell him. She hadn't talked to him once since we met him.

"Okay, okay, I'm calm. Now what are we supposed to do?" Zack still wasn't calm, but I honestly don't think that he really cared all that much. He should learn to listen to girls more; he could get hurt really badly that way. Us girls can be extremely touchy and can slap people extremely hard, not that I would know.

"Well, you could always consult the oracle. I heard that she hasn't changed at all over the past twenty years since we were sixteen!" None of us had heard Thalia come up behind us, but I guess twenty plus years in the Hunt will give you awesome skills like that. She was being sneaky like ninja, and epically winning at it! _**(Sorry if you don't like the random inside jokes I put in here and hate me for them, that's why you're on the inside of the outside joke!)**_

"Really? That would be a good idea!" After Zack agreed, Thalia led us all back to the Big House of camp and instructed Zack to climb the steps up to the attic. I think I was scarred for life now, that music choice was just plain scary. I'm sorry to anyone who likes it!

"So, now we just wait until he comes back from his visit with Rachel, assuming that he's still sane after it." Again, very blunt statement from Thalia followed by blank, expressionless faces from the rest of us. It didn't take long until Zack came back downstairs and found us waiting for him.

"Well, apparently I need to take two other demigods with me, and we have to travel to the Underworld. At least, that's what it sounded like . . ." Oh, well that sounds interesting. I could already tell that this was going to be one quest that I was _not_ going to sit out from.

_**Hello! I am sorry to anyone who was expecting me to update quicker, but being **__**Halloween Obsessed Person**__** takes A LOT of time, not to mention science fair! I'm sorry for the delay and all the random inside jokes if you don't like them! Please review to tell me what you think, or to tell me what an awful person/author/writer I am!**_

_**HAPPY HALLOWEEN!**__** ~monkeypicklez**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Hi people! I am back once again, after, how many days now? I am SO sorry about that, but now that **__**Halloween**__** is over :'( I will have more time to write because I won't be sending out daily emails! Also, I got A LOT of candy, so I will actually have the energy to finish writing this story! Well, I'm sorry you didn't get it sooner, but here is the next chapter!**_

When the group of us walked back out of the Big House, Chiron greeted us by the front door. He explained the official stuff that we have to do to go on the quest. Also, Zack would only need two volunteers, and there were five of us total. Thalia said she didn't want to go if it meant that she could stay with the Hunt and that we had a chance to get our own quest. Have I ever mentioned that Thalia is totally amazing before? If not, I am now saying it, because Thalia is epic.

The next to drop out was Ella; she said that the Underworld had never appealed to her in any way, and that she couldn't stand to be near boys long enough to be on a journey with them. I don't think Zack liked hearing that, but he was just going to have to get over it and take it like a man. Ella had formally decided not to go on the quest, so that left Lauren, Zack, and me standing there.

"That was easy! Just like shopping at Staples!" I said like a complete idiot. I got a lot of weird looks from campers and Chiron, but a few campers started yelling "Wow, that's a low price!" I noticed they were all from the group of demigods that included Antonia, Margaret, Alexandria, Cristina, Ace, Donald, and James; but Taylor wasn't with them. Then I heard someone shout out "I KNOW!" and saw her walking over to join the group.

Surprisingly, they let her into the circle that they had formed almost subconsciously and started talking about inside jokes that must have been funny at the time if you were there. Although, I had said "That was easy" and not "That's a low price!" so they completely mixed the two commercials together. I don't know if you can do that.

Chiron still had a puzzled look on his face, which meant that he probably had never seen the ads, but explained the formalities of going on a quest anyway. Apparently, we had to get permission from Lady Artemis before either Lauren or I could go. We came up with a plan to make it seem like it was a spontaneous decision and like we didn't really want to go. I just hope it actually works!

After coming up with the finer details of the plan, Zack walked off to find some of his half-siblings. Lauren and I ran to catch up with Ella, and found her and Melody both practicing their archery skills. It was awesome to watch them shoot with such accuracy, but it was also slightly terrifying. Arrows were flying at extremely fast speeds, and hitting the direct center of the bull's-eye every single time.

A crowd had formed, so Lauren and I shoved our way up to the front. We saw Thalia firing arrows too, but she was practicing on a different target. Both Lauren and I grabbed a bow and some arrows and started practicing too. It only took a little less than a minute before everyone got bored of watching us be perfect, so they all left.

No sooner had the crowd dispersed, than Thalia came over and asked us how we planned on asking Lady Artemis if we could go on the quest. I explained the plan while the others all listened. After I finished, with a little help from Lauren, everyone agreed that it was the best plan that we could come up with in such a short amount of time; the quest party was to leave the next morning.

Since we had nothing better to do, we decided to head over to the Arts & Crafts cabin. I don't know if there's a god or goddess of art, but I'm guessing that they don't like me. I failed at drawing pictures and straight lines, so I cut out other peoples' pictures and colored them too. It was kind of like a coloring book explosion for me, but demigods that actually had artistic talent were having a blast. I must admit, it was pretty interesting to watch.

After hours of fun, it was finally time for dinner, and I was starving. I can't remember the last time I had gone that long without a snack, and I was starting to become a little snappish. Okay, so maybe I'm always a little snappish, but it's a lot worse when I'm hungry. The Hunt all walked in together again, and the campers were actually continuing their conversations. I guess the shock of seeing us at camp was wearing off a little bit.

Chiron said his announcements, which basically were congratulating the Hunters on our win in Capture the Flag, and welcoming a new son of Hephaestus to camp. After that, the plates filled with food, and everyone ate ravenously. It was like watching Ron Weasley eat at the Welcome Feast in Harry Potter, but worse because there were hundreds of us. All the campers and Hunters managed to sacrifice their food and eat together in the same room without any bloodshed at all, so I think we're making some progress there.

After dinner, everyone went to the campfire and sing-along again. The Apollo kids were once again in charge, and everyone was lining up for their chance to sing karaoke. Everyone that sang last night sang again tonight, but with different songs. It sounded pretty good, and at the end, everyone that played _Don't Stop Believing_ last night played a medley of creepy songs that would sound very cool in a darkened theater. _**(We played the song in band last year, and it's called Music for a Darkened Theater [Darkened Theater for short] and it sounded so cool! It involved the **__**Spider Man **__**credits song, **__**Beetlejuice,**____**This is Halloween**__**, and a song from **__**Superman**__** I think!)**_

When that was done, all the campers headed back to the cabins except for Zack. He walked over to the Hunters and Lady Artemis with a very scared look on his face. It was time to put our plan into action!

"Um, Lady Artemis, I, uh, kind of need two hunters to go on my quest with me . . ." Zack trailed off at the end after talking very quickly. He's a better actor than I would have thought, he sounded terrified that no one would go with him or that Lady Artemis was going to incinerate him. Well, maybe she still would.

"Are there any hunters willing to go? Or, at least, would be okay with going?" The way Lady Artemis phrased it, it sounded like she was daring us to go. I really don't know why it would have been so bad to go on a quest, even if it was with guy like Zack.

"I'll go." From the silence after this short statement, I felt like taking it back; but I really did want to go on a quest, so I held my ground. Plus, I knew that we had already decided who was going and who wasn't.

"You're volunteering to go on a quest with a BOY?" It's not like I said that I was going to marry him or anything, I don't see what the big deal was. I want to go on a quest, is there anything wrong with that?

"I'm volunteering to go on a quest and see the Underworld. I really want to know what it looks like." Everyone was staring at me like I just said that I wanted to jump from an airplane without a parachute! Is it really that weird to want to see where people go when they die?

"I'll go too, if Nicole is going." Lauren is a terrific actress apparently, because she sounds like this was a spur of the moment decision for her.

"No one should have to go on this quest if they don't want to, but personally, I find it interesting to see the Underworld. Maybe I'll see Cerberus! That would be amazing!" Again, everyone stared at me like I was insane, but I really didn't care.

"You actually _want_ to see Cerberus and the Underworld? Do you have a death wish or are you certifiably insane; or most likely, both?" This time it was Zack who was questioning my sanity; which I don't understand at all. It's his quest, and he was the one to ask us if we would go on a quest with him! What the Hades is wrong with this kid?

"I do not have a death wish, and do you want me to come with you on your stupid quest or not? Because I could totally back out now and you can go try to find your sister by yourself!" That got him to stop doubting me and my common sense. I could tell that he actually did want Lauren and me to go on his quest, but he was just to flipping proud to admit that he was scared to go alone.

"So, Nicole, Zack, and I are all going on this quest to the Underworld to figure out what happened to Taelor. Is that all?" This was stated so bluntly that I had no doubt that it was Lauren saying it. Also, it was sort of part of the plan to make it sound like it was a tough choice for us to make.

"Okay, but if there is anything between one of you and . . . _him_ then I will personally incinerate all three of you! Now go get ready for your big trip to Hades's realm." Lady Artemis made her point and then disappeared back to where her cabin was. Lauren and I decided it was best to leave her to herself for a little bit before we got our stuff.

We were going to the Underworld! Our plan actually worked! Thalia and Ella both came over to us and remarked on our amazing acting skills. Lauren blushed, Zack looked embarrassed, and I just smiled. I was in one of our school plays before I found out I was a half-blood. We said good-bye to Zack then, and we split off on our different paths.

Alexandria was waiting for Zack at the front door of the Demeter cabin, and the other Hunters were already inside Cabin #8. The night was dark and still, so all of us filled back to our respective cabins before the Harpies ate us while Lady Artemis guided her moon chariot through the sky.

_**Okay, lame ending, I know, but I couldn't think of anything else. I'm sorry! I also think that my creative writing in Language Arts class is decreasing the quality of my writing. It's where my teacher reads the beginning of a story and we have to write the ending in only about four minutes. I'm so used to writing the main points and leaving out the details so that I can fit everything in; and I'm sorry that it's really obvious! Anyway, please review! Seriously, please review, even if you don't like this story!**_

_**~monkeypicklez**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Why, HELLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOO people! I am again back with more of my story, and after the Veteran's Day Parade, I am in the mood to do nothing except write and completely procrastinate on science fair! Enjoy the next chapter, and I don't own the Percy Jackson series or any other copyrighted work that I mention the name of! Oh, and I'm sorry if Lady Artemis is out of character, I did my best!**_

I woke up the next morning before the sun had risen. Grabbing my iPod and turning toward the door, I tried my best to block out any remnants of my latest demigod dream which involved dark lighting, skeletons, and knives; sounds fun.

When I reached the door and started to turn the handle, I heard a soft rustle of cloth behind me. I froze and turned around slowly, only to see that everyone was still sleeping. Shrugging, I faced the door again, only to hear the sound again. Okay, this is like that way of annoying people when you say you hear something, ask others if they hear it, say it's gone away, and then repeat the whole thing until the walk away. Then I noticed the slight sound one more time.

Wheeling around, I saw Lady Artemis standing there in the back of the cabin, looking around at the other Hunters that were still sleeping. She noticed me watching her, and walked over to where I stood.

Okay, walked isn't the right word, it was more like strutting, but not as super-modely. The confidence of a strut, the light bounce of almost skipping, and the posture of a, well, goddess; it's very hard to describe. Lady Artemis loped, no that's not the right word EITHER, came over to where I was positioned next to the door. We stood just staring at each other for a little until Lady Artemis spoke.

"So Nicole, heading out early again, hmm? Why are you always up so early, I wonder." She said the last bit as if she knew exactly why I was up before the sun but didn't tell me what she meant. Maybe it was one of those "gods and goddesses can't be part of demigods' lives" things.

"You will know in time child, do not worry. You are still young, and an immortal life can last a long time. Do not fret now my Huntress, go out on the beach and listen to your music like you do every morning, I shall not stop you." After that very cryptic message, she just turned around and walked to the back of the cabin. I saw her open the door to the bathroom and then the bright glow that meant she had taken her true form and disappeared.

I decided to take her advice and head out to the beach with my iPod again. This time, I really was alone out there and I had time to think about the day coming up. We would be setting off on our quest right after breakfast, and I still have no idea what I got myself into. All of us could end up dying for all I know!

Before I knew it, Lauren and Zack had both come down to the beach and we all ended up taking strategy for the quest. I think that Zack was holding out on us about something, and that Lauren could tell. No one mentioned it though, so after a minute we all left for breakfast.

Apparently, since it was a Friday, the campers had "open seating" where they didn't have to sit at their parents' tables. It was chaos in the huge pavilion, with everyone switching seats, running randomly, and finding friends. Chiron stood at the front with a large whistle slung around his neck and a stopwatch in his hand.

When Chiron did blow the whistle, the insanity died down almost instantly and all the campers had chosen their seat. I noticed the group in the corner had all of our Camp Gossipers that had been talking about me the first night I was here. Cristina was sitting right next to Ace and holding his hand, Antonia was sitting next to Mickey while he was talking to Donald, Evan, and James. They were sitting next to Norman, Taylor, Michael, Winter, Robert, Julianna, Maria, LeAnne, and Alexandria who were all laughing about some inside joke. Then Earl sat over to the side with his short, blond friend who had that certain "Hermes kid" look about her. Apparently, her name was Jade.

All of the campers had the same look that they were with their best friends in the world that they would trust with their lives and wouldn't trade it for anything. It was kind of cool to see, yet also depressing because I still sat at the Hunters' table with my only friends, other Huntresses.

We offered our food to the goddesses and gods and then went back to eating. I had given up on my godly parent by now, so I only offered Lady Artemis food normally, but today I sent some to Lord Hades too since we were going to the Underworld.

After we had finished eating our vegan breakfast of fruit salad, Lauren and I ran back to the cabin to gather our stuff for the quest. We both grabbed our bows and arrows, a change of clothes, and an extra backpack with snacks, nectar and ambrosia, and water. I also, of course, brought my iPod in my back pocket.

Racing up to Thalia's pine tree, we caught a glimpse of Zack talking with Lady Artemis herself. I slowed to a stop, wondering if she was telling him something as mysterious as she had told me that morning, but Lauren tugged on my arm to get me moving again.

When we finally reached the top of the hill, Lady Artemis was gone, but Chiron and Thalia were both there to wish us luck. I just hoped that we wouldn't need too much of it and could get through this quest.

_**Well, how did you like that chapter? Finally, they get something exciting to do! Please review, seriously, review even if you dislike, despise, can't stand, or deeply despise this story with a passion! Just not if you absolutely hate it, because hating is not nice! Thanks to everyone reading this!**_

_**~monkeypicklez**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Hola, this wasn't that long between updates! I am proud of myself; I guess I've got the spirit of giving a little early! Enjoy the chapter where I really don't own anything.**_

Zack, Lauren, and I set off to find the Door of Orpheus. We figured it would be easier to reach than the Los Angeles entrance to the Underworld because it was still in New York.

"Okay, Nicole and I will bring Zack through the forest using our amazing wilderness travel powers, and then we can all walk around in Central Park and find the door." That's a daughter of Athena for you; she has a plan already formed after only a few seconds. Well, since it's the only plan we have, we're going with it.

"Got it, but how do we use our amazing wilderness travel powers exactly?" I was kind of new to the Hunt, so I'm not sure if Lauren was exaggerating how awesome our traveling really was or not.

"Oh, right, well, you just walk through the forest and take the path with the sign for wherever you want to go. Just don't tell Lady Artemis that we showed Zack." Whoa, I didn't know the Huntresses had such epic traveling techniques! I wish I had known that during Capture the Flag; it would definitely explain how the campers have never won a game in, how many years now?

"That's great, but don't we have to use music to open the door? I can't sing and my iPod is out of batteries." Zack turned to Lauren first, then to me. I'm not sure whether I'm insulted by the fact that he looked to Lauren before me or not.

"Well, I'm tone deaf and left my old MP3 player behind when I joined the Hunt, but Nicole is talented and guards her iPod religiously." Why thank you Lauren, I feel appreciated. Who would have known that my obsession with music would actually be useful one day? Definitely not me!

"So, it's all settled? Lauren is taking us to Central Park because I don't trust Nicole when she didn't even know that you could wilderness travel until five minutes ago; and then Nicole's going to do her part and get us through the door?" I am OFFENDED! Did he know that Hunters could wilderness travel before Lauren told us; I don't think so!

"Yeah, yeah, sure, let's get going already!" Lauren grabbed both of us by the arm and literally dragged us by the arm into a bunch of trees. We walked past the first one, and I immediately saw the rows and rows of signs saying everything from 'Yellowstone' to 'trees behind Charlotte High School'. From Zack's expression, he obviously didn't see the huge 'CENTRAL PARK' sign right in front of his nose. Lauren led us down the leaf strewn path, and we walked for about ten seconds before emerging into the dazzling sunlight that covered New York this day.

"I guess Lord Apollo is happy tod-wait, where are we?" Did Zack seriously just interrupt _himself_? That's kind of sad, just saying.

"We're in Central Park. I told you that we had amazing wilderness travel powers! Now let's go find that door!" All of us walked off in different directions, then looked around and turned around only to walk three separate ways once again. This was going to be one long day.

It took over an hour, but we eventually found the Door of Orpheus. Unfortunately for us, it just looks like a pile of rocks, so we had to search for it extremely carefully. Once we found it however, we still couldn't open it.

"Well Nicole? This is where we need the music to open the door!" Gosh Zack, no need to turn all snappy on us, we're only trying to help you find your sister! It's not like you should be thanking us or anything *mental sarcasm*.

"Okay, Lauren, what do I have to do with my iPod? I can turn up the volume so that it's pretty loud through the headphones, or am I supposed to _sing_ to this pile of rocks?" Yeah, I was not singing a cappella for this part of the wall. Maybe if I could turn up my iPod loud enough, it would work.

Turning up the volume was easy enough, but trying to find a good song was hard. Eventually, we all decided to just put it on shuffle and choose the first song that came up. The next song to pop up was _Tik Tok_ by Ke$ha, and it was hilarious to see Zack and Lauren's reactions. Especially when I started to sing the parody at the top of my lungs once it reached the chorus.

By the time I was singing about purple socks, the door had apparently had enough, because it was opening ever so slowly. All three of us high-fived each other and ran through the door right before it clicked shut again. We ducked down behind a stalagmite so that we could survey the scene before us.

We looked around the underworld, and sure enough, there was Cerberus. Aw, he is so ADOREABLE! In the "back up or I'll eat your head off because it's my job" kind of way. I'm pretty sure I've had that look myself before, so it wasn't really anything new.

"There you go Nicole, that's Cerberus. Are you happy now? Is your life complete?" Wow, Zack is being even more sarcastic than I am when I'm in a bad mood because I had way too much homework.

"I'm _ecstatic_ thank you very much! And no, my life isn't complete until I annoy as many people as demigod-ly possible!" The best way to retort to a sarcastic comment is to have a sarcastic comeback! Zack looks pretty mad, so cross one more person off of my list of people to annoy!

"Will you two shut up so that I can think of a way to get us past him without getting eaten?" Lauren interrupted our whispered argument with another whisper of her own. We actually were being pretty quiet, but the tone says everything. Like when you're teacher is being mean and you know they would totally be yelling at you if they didn't have to be nice to you.

"Why don't we just walk past him? He's busy watching the dead file past like good little souls." I didn't wait for an answer from either of them, which they definitely were not happy about. Walking out from our hiding place, I strode right past the giant guard dog while pulling out my iPod. I learned from Harry Potter number one, Fluffy liked music, maybe Cerberus does too.

It turned out that it was somewhat true, Cerberus did like the music, but it didn't put him to sleep. He turned one of his three heads towards me, and I grinned like the Cheshire Cat. Cerberus growled, but it was in a friendly way. I know that sounds impossible, but it's absolutely true.

I smiled, said "good boy" and strutted past Cerberus like it was something I did everyday. Lauren and Zack were staring after me, before jumping out and following me. I giggled at their expressions of shock when nothing happened; no security alarms went off, no Cerberus chomping your head off, no random axe murders jumping out at you like a haunted house.

"I can't believe that actually worked. Good plan Nicole." Lauren and Zack had both caught up with me by now, and we started off in the direction of Hades's palace. This was going to be one interesting family visit!

The three of us walked right up to Lord Hades's palace. It was a very derelict building with black paint covering every visible surface and a bunch of faces of people being tortured. To put it simply, it was very depressing and extremely "Lord of the Dead-ish".

Zack pulled the door open himself, and Lauren and I followed him inside. Three demigods just walking through the front doors of the Palace of Death (as I am now referring to it) apparently doesn't happen very often, because we got a lot of strange looks from the skeleton servants that are walking around. We must be a rare sight in here, I feel proud.

"So we got into this place without a problem and we just walk right through the doors without anyone stopping us; this can't be normal. I've always heard that quests were supposed to be extremely hard and this was way too easy. What's going to happen next?" Almost as soon as Lauren finished her last sentence, the loud, tired, and annoyed sounding voice of Lord Hades himself rang through the place.

"All demigods in here are expected to report to the Throne Room at this very instant. That means NOW!" Pleasant way to greet your guests, I think we should all yell something sarcastic like "Nice to meet you too!" but that might not be good in the presence of a god.

"Um, guys, where's the throne room?" Hmm, Zack actually has a good point for a boy. How are we supposed to report somewhere we don't know how to find? Almost as if reading my thoughts from a distance, we were instantly transported into a huge domed room and standing in front of Lord Hades and Lady Persephone. Taelor was also standing there, and she smiled as she saw us and ran to greet us, much more polite than Lord Hades's welcome if you ask me.

"What are FOUR demigods doing in my palace at the same time? Why are you here?" Lord Hades got directly to the point while Lady Persephone looked a little guilty, or maybe just embarrassed by her husband's actions. I really couldn't tell which, and studied her expression a little longer while Zack and Lauren explained our quest.

Lord Hades didn't look impressed by our story, and especially not by the fact that I didn't even take part in the retelling of it. He seemed to dismiss it as a lie, and looked murderous, even for the God of Death.

"Anyway, all four of you will be out of here in ten seconds or you will be stuck in the Underworld forever." Wow, that's not a very fair choice is it? We were all turning around to leave when Lady Persephone stood up and said the only thing she has said in front of us.

"You will not speak to Taelor and Zack like that. I do not like people being rude to my children."

_**Muwahahaaaaa! Yes, I know I'm an evil little . . . demigod! The next chapter should be up soon. Please review!**_

_**~monkeypicklez**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Hello everyone who is reading this! Here is the next chapter!**_

"Whoa, I did not see that one coming!" For one of the few times in my life, I was leaving the sarcasm in the back of my mind and being completely serious. I really wasn't expecting this turn of events.

"I convinced my mom to claim you so that you could get to camp with the Hunters. Artemis knew, and that's probably the only reason that she allowed Zack to stay at her camp. We decided it would be safest for you both to get to camp as soon as possible." Persephone explained.

Honestly, I knew that normally Lady Artemis would never let a boy come into our camp, but I never thought of why should let Zack stay. I guess it just always seemed like he was there because his sister was there, and he never tried to flirt with any of us, so he was allowed to live.

"You mean that these two demigods are REALLY your children?" Hades was so mad, that even I stepped back a little. Only Persephone didn't flinch, I guess that when you have an immortal lifetime in the underworld, you get used to the Lord of the Dead.

"Yes. They were born on the first day of spring thirteen years ago." Persephone kept a cool demeanor the entire time she was talking to her husband.

"You had an affair with a MORTAL?" Okay, that was really pushing it. I mean, didn't Lord Hades have plenty of affairs with mortals while Persephone was just sitting in the underworld for years on end?

"Yes, he always celebrated my return to the Earth every year, and his house is just adorable! The entire place has so many flowers -"

"That you can't even leave the doormat. Trust me, I've been there and tried! And I'm sorry, but haven't you been having affairs with mortals for centuries; Millennia, most likely. What's the difference this time except that your roles are reversed? It's just like with Lord Zeus and Lady Hera, Lord Zeus has plenty of demigod children yet Lady Hera has none!" I know it probably isn't smart to interrupt a goddess or rant like that in front of the Lord of the Dead; but I was on Persephone's side here, so I don't think she can be nearly as furious as Lord Hades is.

"How dare you, you insolent little demigod! Who is your parent? I believe I need to have a word with them!" Okay, yeah, Lord Hades is extremely pissed off at me right now; but did he really have to bring in the parents thing?

"I would like to know the answer to that question too, and believe me when I say that you can't want to 'talk' to them anymore than I do." There, the blunt and honest truth. I have grown to detest my godly parent recently, just because all this time I thought they were dead and now they don't even claim me!

"Oh, in that case, uh, GET OUT OF MY PALACE!" Ha, I got him on the unknown parent! I guess I would rather have to leave Lord Hades's palace when he's mad at me than have him go beat up a god or goddess that may or may not be my mom and/or dad.

"Willingly, just one more question. How do I leave?" Everyone was looking at me like I had a death wish, and you know what, I probably do. Why else would I antagonize the Lord of the DEAD like that?

"If you get me any madder than I already am and you will be leaving this palace but staying here in my realm. Do you understand me?" Okay, best to leave now before he kills me with extreme ease. That would be an awful way to die!

"I got it! Adios!" I turned around and walked slowly and purposefully towards the other end of the room, where there was a huge door. I pushed it open and stared open-mouthed at what waited for me once I stepped foot outside.

"Oh gods! I didn't know it would be this bad!" Wait, he knew this would happen and DIDN'T TELL US! Oh, he is so dead; fitting that we're in the Underworld.

"What do you mean 'this bad' exactly Zack?" Apparently Lauren was thinking the same thing I was. I could tell just by her tone of voice that she was furious.

"Well, the oracle said there would be a fight, but I thought it meant a metaphorical fight! Not a fight with swords and knives!" He was being sincere, but it still didn't make me not want to kill him. The little twerp didn't even mention that there was the possibility of a fight.

"Did you know that the only two ways for us to die are if we get kicked out of the Hunt or if we fall in battle?" My voice was so low and quiet; I think it was even more threatening than if I had started shouting at him.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" I guess I was scarier than I thought I was! He seemed practically petrified to have two hunters mad at him.

"What exactly did the prophecy say?" Lauren was still unhappy and I don't think that Zack dared not answer her. Unfortunately for all of us, he never got the chance to answer her because at that moment, around twenty undead skeletons came running up to meet us with swords flying. Really, this is how Lord Hades deals with annoyances, he kills them? Oh well, if it's a fight that they want, then they are most likely going to get one, just because I feel like it.

After an hour of non-stop battling with the skeletons that always reformed after you 'killed' them, all of us were starting to tire. I must not have been as quick as I was before, because I didn't even notice the skeleton that crept up behind me and stabbed me in the back, literally.

"Ah!" It was more of a scream of shock than a scream of pain, but it was a scream nonetheless.

"AH!" That was most definitely a scream of pain. Apparently it wasn't bad enough to stab me; you have to twist the knife too! That is so nice, thank you.

"Ohmigods! Nicole, are you okay?" Wow, Lauren, you're really asking that? I thought we were done with the annoying questions.

After asking that question, she stared above my head. There was an image of a flute just floating there. Does that mean I'm claimed now? Is Euterpe, the muse that contributed the flute to the world, my mom? Why is she claiming me now, after days of me becoming a hunter?

Wait, does she think I'm going to die? Is that why she's finally claiming me? Oh gods, this counts as battle doesn't it? That means I'm not immortal now. Oh Styx! I am going to die! Well, at least now I know why I never knew my mom, my dad is SO not off the hook that easily though!

"Lauren . . . pocket . . . please." My voice was almost gone and you could barely hear me. It was amazing that Lauren could understand me at all.

"Nicole, the only thing in here is . . . wow Nicole; really, really, your iPod? At a time like this I would have expected something a lot more dramatic." Lauren replied once she saw what I had wanted from the pocket of my hunter's jacket.

"Yeah . . . anticlimactic . . . isn't it?" Now the whole talking thing was just getting pathetic. I guess it's really hard to speak coherently when you're on your deathbed, or death rock in my case because I don't see a bed anywhere.

"Yeah, Nicole, it really is; but I wouldn't expect anything less from you." Aw, Lauren knows me so well! I don't think anyone could have expected something else to be in my pocket.

"Ha, good luck Lauren. Sayonara!" Very uncreative for my last words, but I didn't exactly get to practice this before, did I? It was kind of a spur of the moment thing, and I won't get a second chance on my last words.

"Bye, Nicole; we'll miss you." That was the last thing I heard before the whole world went black.

_**Yes, Nicole is new to the whole "combat" thing, so she got stabbed and then claimed. I will explain everything if you thought she was a daughter of Apollo later! Please review! Oh, and this is NOT the end of Nicole's story!**_

_**~monkeypicklez**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**Okay, here is the official last chapter of this story! I hope you all like it!**_

When I opened my eyes again, my setting had not changed at all. I was still in the Underworld lying in the same exact place. The difference though, was that the only thing alive anywhere near me was the God of Death himself, and he didn't look happy to see me.

Oh Styx, this can not be good. I guess I must have died from that knife; I just hope that Taelor, Zack, and Lauren got away alive. Well, death can't be that bad, can it?

"Welcome back to the Underworld, Brittany. Or Nicole, as you're now calling yourself." What was he . . . OH! I remember now! Wow, I can't believe it took me that long to figure it all out.

"Why thank you Lord Hades. Would you mind telling me what happened after I died this time?" Yes, I said this time. That should wait for another story though.

"Well, you died and your friends got out of the Underworld alive. I wasn't mad at any of them, just you. I believe they are holding your funeral in a few hours." The way he said that, I finally understood why the word 'fun' is in 'funeral'; Lord Hades came up with the word.

"Oh, and you're allowed a mini-trip to Elysium before you're out in the world again." Awesome! I've still never actually seen where people go when they lead a good life. I wonder if any of my friends will be there. Lord Hades then pointed and told me (politely of course) to get out of his sight. I took the hint and ran off to Elysium without looking back.

After about an hour seeing some of my old friends (and some acquaintances), Lord Hades came to tell me that it was time to get my butt out of the Underworld because his patience was gone.

Saying good-bye to everyone was some sort of a tearful event, if souls could cry. I skipped off to where the River Lethe was waiting for me; it reminded me of Cristina. Lord Hades was already standing there, so I skipped even faster.

"Gods Nicole or Brittany, you're freaking DEAD! Why are you SKIPPING?" 'Why wasn't I skipping before' is a better question. Skipping is a lot faster than walking and doesn't use nearly as much energy as running does.

"I like skipping; and can we get this over with quickly please? I'd really like to know who I'm going to be this time." I was actually really excited to be going into the realm of the living once more and to see all my friends again. It was making me kind of snappish again, I will admit it.

"Fine, but if you come back here before your time again, I swear . . ." Lord Hades left the threat hanging, so I'm not exactly sure whether that's a good or bad thing. Either way, I was totally prepared to head back into the mortal world.

"Okay, well, ADIOS!" I half-jumped and was half-pushed into the River Lethe. It was a really strange feeling; forgetting all the little things, then forgetting bigger things, then eventually forgetting the most basic things such as your own name. Oh well, I guess that's just the price you pay for rebirth. The last thing I remember happening was Lord Hades walking away.

_**Yes, short ending, but I thought the story needed something to wrap it up. There will be a short prequel where you get a little more background story, and a sequel that is an actual story-type thing! Please review, just to tell me what you thought!**_

_**~monkeypicklez**_


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